A Tapestry Incomplete: One Thread at a time
by GoldieGodiva
Summary: Marvelous work in fighting situations and splendid origins of comical characters." What really happened at Duelist Kingdom, making friends with East Domino High is hard! (Noodle Rating: 4 of 5 bowls)
1. Intense! Umei is the daughter of Pegasus

That was the miserable girl, sitting there eating with her father. Every night they would eat there, in that lonely dining hall, in that ghastly moonlight. Her father never asked how she was doing, frankly, he didn't care. He pretended he didn't have a daughter as he read book after book about mischievous antics of a pink cartoon rabbit. He was too busy for her, he had his own company to run that he one day would not give to his daughter, he just didn't trust her at all. No one was there for her in that dingy old castle she hated so much, on an island she hated even more. No one wanted to listen to what she had to say; the only living beings besides her father or her that lived on that island were just guards always standing around guarding nothing worth guarding. None of them would talk to her, but she didn't care. She didn't care if she would ever have a friend. She didn't care about anything anymore. She sat there, always staring at her father who never noticed her, in the castle with no one for her, always eating the same old dinner every night of her life.  
  
That was the miserable girl, lying in her window-seat at night. The curtains draped closed with the only light she needed to stare at being the luminous moon with the transient whispers of the night. When she wasn't living in the castle she hated so much, on the island she hated even more, she resided in a penthouse apartment in the Domino District with the person who didn't know she existed—her father of course. The company he owned, that she would never own and didn't really care if she ever did, was located there and it was more convenient to live in a place close enough for her father to get to his company for the emergencies it never had. She didn't go to school in the Domino District however. She went to the only place she liked being beside her room, East Domino High. It was a school going to hell, there was no way to save it and the staff there practically never taught. There were always fights she never cared for getting involved in but somehow always found herself in the middle of. She refused to make friends and she knew none of the students that attended East Domino High would never amount to anything in life because they went to such a school with a bad reputation. She liked it though; she liked it more than her lunches of left over dinner she had had for every night of her life.  
  
That was the miserable girl, running every second that she got. The only thing she ever did besides staying in her room was running; she ran from morning until midnight and her father never worried if she would come home or not. He didn't have a daughter, he had no one that cared more to him than his first wife—he kept her portrait everywhere so he would always be reminded of her no matter what. The girl didn't care anyway. She didn't care about the millions of people with their lives being better or worse then hers, she hated to admit it, but she admired the life she led. She was respected by some, disgusted by most, and unknown to little. But she never told anyone how she really felt. She ran when she was depressed, she ran when she was aggravated, she ran when she was ecstatic—though she never was anymore. When you run you don't have to think about anything else in the world. You just run. She ran around the island she hated so much, she ran around the District she loathe so much, she ran from her life she detested most of all. She ran from her problems; that was all she could ever do. Running filled the void of being lonely for her; it filled the void of being unwanted for her. She knew if she stopped she would just see all her problems catch up to her and she would never get away. She kept running, but she could never get away from the snacks she would have of the left over dinner she had had every night of her life.  
  
That was the miserable girl, someone everyone knows nothing about, except me of course. How you ask? Because that miserable girl, sitting there alone, lying there aggrieved, running all the time, was me...  
  
-  
  
Yu-Gi-Oh! A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode One: Intensity! Umei is Pegasus' Daughter?  
  
-  
  
Jounouchi followed the rumors he heard the duelists gossiping about. He ran to the top of the deck, opening the doors to the night air. It was because of Yuugi he was here now, but he didn't prove to be that grateful. He had abandoned his friend down below, as he looked for the ravishing girl he had met earlier, Mai Kujaku. He didn't entirely dump Yuugi for a girl, Yuugi was conversing with a lot of duelists that just wanted to know all about him—he was so popular with so many people around the world after he had beaten the not-so-great Kaiba Seto. So Jounouchi would just let Yuugi bask in his glory, he felt like an outcast anyway just standing there listening to comment after comment by some suck-up that would probably try and eliminate Yuugi the first chance he got.  
  
Jounouchi stalked around on deck, as he looked for the girl everyone was talking about. It was practically deserted on the upper deck because everyone was huddled in the warmth of the lower deck. He knew everyone was talking about her... "That blonde, I don't believe it's her" they said, "You seen that blonde girl, did you know she was on this boat!" they continued. "She maybe a good duelist but she has no sense! Do you know how cold it is up there on deck! She's mad!" they murmured on, "I hear she's single!" they went on.  
  
Well of course there were many blondes duelists on deck, but they were mainly boys, there were hardly any blonde female duelists around the boat so it had to be Mai Kujaku. Jounouchi lost hope in his search. He would never see her again. Suddenly, a group of duelists walked by Jounouchi, heading for the lower deck. He picked up on what they were talking about.  
  
"That was her on the railing at the front of the boat?" A boy with purple hair and silver eyes shrieked.  
  
"Blonde hair, female duelist, exposing attire, that fits the bill." A boy with silver hair and purple eyes nodded in agreement. They were practically identical; they had to have been twins.  
  
"From her popularity I always thought she would have a group of men always crowded around her answering her beckon call. But she was alone up there, pretty tempting. Maybe I'll ditch you losers and go back up there to talk to her." A boy walking behind the twins chuckled.  
  
"Girls like that are always stuck-up, ne?" Another boy yawned as he pushed his glasses up on his face. The four boys dawdled a bit on the stairway before going down to the lower deck.  
  
Jounouchi would have ran over and hugged them for giving the information he needed. He raced off for the head of the boat. He started skipping to the beat of his heart, as he would soon see his dream girl.  
  
But it wasn't his dream girl, it was completely someone else! The girl in the moonlight, pale green eyes radiant, leaned over against the rail of the ship. Freely fanned in the tranquil breeze from the torrented ocean; the girl didn't notice Jounouchi as she still stood there unmoving. Jounouchi didn't notice himself walking over to her in a daze. But she wasn't his dream girl?! Why was he approaching her as if against his will. Why did she attract him so much.  
  
"You aren't my Mai." Jounouchi accused.  
  
Her three, spiky blonde bangs taunted her face while she turned her head towards Jounouchi. She flung them back with a nimble nod, making them sail out in the breeze. Her head looked back towards the ocean. The sounds of the crashing waves on the ship's sides were enough to put even the fiercest of warriors to sleep. The female yawned.  
  
"Matte..." Jounouchi squinted his brown eyes to her. "Have we met before?" He began to examine her body as it took her a long while to respond to his question. A red beanie with a white trim held the rest of her hair in as her three bangs escaped from the front. A buttoned up white, woolen jacket that stopped at right where her rib cage ended was the only thing Jounouchi saw covering. If hoped she was wearing something under that because he was trying to keep his mind on Mai and not her. She wore a pare of jeans that were held up by a black belt and boots that had the pants legs tucked into them. The thing that didn't catch Jounouchi's eye was the adornment she wore around her neck.  
  
The boat drifted back and forth, wind breathing past the girl's form, applauds from below deck symbolized that a training session between duelists was being held. Umei yawned again, still not responding to Jounouchi.  
  
"I remember now, you were with that kid when Yuugi dueled Kaiba. You can't deny it now, I heard you talk before so you should start talking now!" Jounouchi smirked and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head.  
  
The girl's eyes were closed as her head began to drifted up and down.  
  
"Why were you and that kid the only ones there to witness the defeat of Kaiba. Damn that Kaiba." Jounouchi went on.  
  
The girl began to shift back and forth.  
  
"Oi! Do you know a girl named Mai?" Jounouchi asked still not catching on.  
  
The girl began to wobble on her feet.  
  
"Hey are you listen—AH!" Jounouchi began but saw the high school girl fall over the rail. Jounouchi finally noticed that she had been asleep the whole time he was talking to her, how rude! But he didn't have time to worry about that as he quickly caught her by the hand as she dangled on the outside of the boat. But oddly enough, her eyes were staring up at Jounouchi as if she were irritated with him. He looked into those emerald eyes of his, as she gazed up in his auburn ones.  
  
"What are you doing?" She said calmly as if she didn't know she was hanging on the outside of the boat.  
  
"I'm saving your life!" Jounouchi shouted. "Help!" he called for assistance.  
  
"Cut it out!" she said in a censuring tone. "Let go, I'm fine..." she nodded her head to where her other hand had been gripping the rail. Jounouchi let go and the crazed female climbed back over the rail.  
  
"Kuso! What were you doing!? Do you know it is rude to snooze when someone is talking to ya!" Jounouchi scolded her as he clutched his heart.  
  
The girl just glanced at him, "I heard mom calling." She said briskly and turned on the heels of her boots. She began to pace herself from Jounouchi.  
  
"Mom calling?! Chotto matte! Hey what's your name! I'm Jounouchi Katsuya! Oi! Come back!" Jounouchi found himself screaming to no one as the girl walked off to the lower deck. 'Geez, she is stuck-up, nothing like Mai.'  
  
Jounouchi turned back to the sea and placed his hands on the rail, too focused on his thoughts. 'Shizuka... How are you doing? All this just for you. You deserve it. You deserve to change everyone's life in the way you've changed mine. Especially that girl, I never met a girl who would act that way to anyone...'  
  
"So if you have someone waiting for you, why do you insist on hitting on other girls..." the familiar saintly tone was back.  
  
"Nani?" Jounouchi spun around to meet the cold gaze of the girl from before. "What are you talking about."  
  
"Psh." The girl huffed, "Shi-Zu-Ka!" she emphasized. "If you are planning on dumping her for Mai that is quite inconceivable, Mai is too old for you don't you think, Kat-Su-Ya... But I forgot how all high school guys like older women."  
  
Jounouchi felt a little uneasy as to why this girl that didn't even know him was already disgusted by him. He couldn't stand people like that. "I'm not planning on dumping anyone. For your information, Shizuka is my sister and I'm dueling for the prize money just to pay for her operation she desperately needs! Mind your own business. And how do you know about Mai!"  
  
The female sneered at Jounouchi, "How can I mind my own business when you just laid it out for me. Baka. I know Mai in a way you don't understand, you would never understand..."  
  
"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Jounouchi growled. 'At least I had the decency to give my name and attempt to make friends with her. Oh Yuugi, why is it I always buy into your good morals towards others! I wouldn't dream of making friends with her anyway, she's just another pretty face and bad attitude, now Mai on the other hand—"  
  
The girl's eyes bulged and soon returned to their normal sedated state. She brought her arms out and began to ridicule Jounouchi. "Umei J. Crawford! Sixteen years old, attending East Domino High! Father, the arrogant tycoon Pegasus J. Crawford! Birthday January 13th! Other alias, Domineer Maestro of the Cards! Here at this competition, revenge! There I have the decency to let you pry into my business!"  
  
It was as if she could read his thoughts, she knew exactly what to say! "Arrogant? Father?! Sixteen?!" Jounouchi regained his stature, "You think pretty highly of yourself! Domineer Maestro of the Cards?!"  
  
"Unlike you, I've made a name for myself. Unlike you, I'm better and I accept the right of eliminating you as soon as we get there. You should be honored." Umei sighed. "I feel sorry for your sister, such an incompetent brother she has that can't provide for her."  
  
"I feel sorry for Shizuka, Katsuya, such an incompetent brother like you will never win in this competition."  
  
"What the hell is your problem! Don't you dare bring my sister into this, you don't know anything about me. And from what I see that guy was right, you get practically all the wealth in the world but it doesn't satisfy you and you walk around as if your life is worthless! Selfish! I didn't do anything to you, except approach you like a friend."  
  
"Did it ever occur to you that I didn't want a friend, that I rather be left alone. That you were just bothering me when I wanted to be alone from all these noisy bastards on this boat. Wake up Katsuya, some people know the truth, friendship is nothing. You use people, they use you, then you go on with your life." Umei turned away from him. "Cheer for that boy Motou. Once he duels me it's all over. He will pay."  
  
"You need to wake up, you just don't know how it feels." Jounouchi kept speaking even though Umei tried to get away from the seen.  
  
She looked behind her, "No, you don't know how it feels..." she left for good this time.  
  
Jounouchi was pleased that she was gone. He didn't want to listen to anymore of what Umei had to say. Not only did he think she was too cocky of herself, he also admired that she reminded him of himself when he bullied Yuugi. But that slightly intrigued him, she seemed like a person no one should meet, and he would surely warn people never to meet her. No one should converse with someone like her that would bring your hopes down; they hated the world and themselves. Jounouchi just believed that maybe that wasn't really her. Her eyes, they weren't that pale green they were when he saw her before. When she returned to him they were a terrible purple that seemed to scream evil. Maybe she had a twin lurking around somewhere, a twin with the same attire, voice, and appearance as Umei, a twin with a necklace that glowed around her neck.  
  
---.  
  
Yuugi shifted his eyes back at the magazine he had been reading before Jounouchi burst into the room that all the duelists were supposed to be staying in below deck, 'Umei J. Crawford attends East Domino High and is usually absent since she goes with her father, Pegasus J. Crawford, to dueling competitions. Umei is usually seen with Kaiba Corporation owner, Seto Kaiba, around the East Domino area dueling local teenager's to improve Umei's skill. She isn't known for dueling in competitions and seems to be really antisocial. From less publicity, some duelists believe taking the time to duel her would just be a waste of time because of her actions on fighting first and dueling later. It was even hard trying to get a five- minute interview with her!'  
  
Jounouchi kept yelling while Yuugi tried to read. They were both standing in a corner and were getting the stares of many people because of Jounouchi's big mouth. "There's someone you should never meet! And that's Umei Crawford! There is something wrong with that girl!"  
  
'The East Domino district is well known for it's high crime rate but Umei had decided on attending the school there prestigiously after visiting countless others beforehand. She commented that because no one expects anything out of her, she is able to do what she likes to do. This talented girl would most definitely go on without attention and chosen to ruin her life by picking a school that wouldn't better herself.' Yuugi read on.  
  
Jounouchi pouted. "Those East Domino kids are something else! Wonder if they all act like her, if they're all filthy rich that they are selfish and don't even provide for their own school to make it something worthwhile."  
  
"East Domino High kills us in sports though. They maybe unruly but they are hard core at performing and supporting their sports and extracurricular activities." Yuugi finished reading the article and rolled up the magazine. He had been listening to Jounouchi AND reading the article at the same time! "The duelists that go there are really amazing too, in this article they said they would most definitely surprise you if you dueled them. They even rated the school on a scale of one to five with five being the greatest on duel factor. They got a five."  
  
Jounouchi glared at Yuugi, "Stop sugarcoating it! That school is terrible with terrible people that have terrible attitudes... Did they rate our school?"  
  
Yuugi nodded his head, "West Domino High got a three, Domino Pacific got a four, Domino Private Academy got a four, and Domino Junior University got a four plus!"  
  
"And what about good old Domino High?"  
  
"We got a two... heh."  
  
"A two!" Jounouchi woke up all the duelists that tried to get some sleep in the room. They all screamed for Jounouchi and Yuugi to take it outside. They wandered off to the upper deck, a very mischievous Insector Haga wandering after them.  
  
---  
  
Umei rounded the corner, holding her head. 'Katsuya...' Her eyes were their greenish color again. She then stopped in her tracks when she heard a very provoking shriek. Mai Kujaku and Dinosaur Ryuzaki.  
  
Mai seemed to have been making a deal with Ryuzaki before Umei got there; that's Mai for you. They stood right under the stairwell to the uppermost deck where the top and most honored duelists could get a cozy room instead of sleeping with the other riffraff.  
  
Mai stopped in mid-sentence when she finally focused on the person in her sights. "Umei?" Mai laughed again as she walked to her friend.  
  
Dinosaur Ryuzaki turned to see whom Mai called to.  
  
"Since when do you hang out with underdog duelists?" Umei turned to Dinosaur Ryuzaki. "Didn't I see you lose not to long ago to that bug boy?" Umei taunted Ryuzaki as she bent over to come face-to-face with him.  
  
Mai grew an embarrassed frown, "You wish, we were just discussing some procedures."  
  
Dinosaur Ryuzaki reddened and burned in a furious aura. "Oi Mai! Why don't we add her to our deal too. I could use the company of two gorgeous babes!" he chuckled.  
  
Umei's eyes changed again to that cold purple they once were, "Listen you irritating, bantam. You're too dirty for me, I don't feel like soaking in the odor of a loser. I only want those who treat a girl right." This Umei spook in a raspy tone.  
  
"Ooo, is that a bet? I'll show you how right I can treat you!" Ryuzaki laughed with a gleam in his eye.  
  
"A bet?" Mai questioned but then finally got what Ryuzaki said, she giggled.  
  
Umei went nose-to-nose with Dinosaur Ryuzaki, "You know who you remind me of Ryuzaki, one of those midgets in the circus." She then flicked his nose.  
  
Ryuzaki charged at her but Umei moved just in time for him to fall right on top of Mai.  
  
"Whoa Mai, don't get too personal with the guy. Save some for Jounouchi." Umei laughed heading up the stairs.  
  
"Get off of me!" Mai pushed a very crimson red and grinning Dinosaur Ryuzaki off her abdomen. "What do you mean save some for Jounouchi! Did he say something to you." Mai fumed.  
  
"Not really, it was something he thought about..." Umei sneaked away to the top of the stairs, leaving a very confused Mai.  
  
"He thought?" Mai questioned, but Umei was gone. Instead of Umei coming back, Dinosaur Ryuzaki bolted beside her.  
  
"Shall we?" He grimaced happier then normal after what happened. He slipped his arms around her hips. Mai narrowed her eyes. A blaring smack filled the corridor.  
  
---  
  
Pegasus J. Crawford sat at the dinner table in his dining hall. He was sipping red wine and looking out the window; a bunch of duelists were arriving outside his castle and beginning to get rather anxious. He began to chuckle to himself, "Quite a bit of an audience we have, so soon already."  
  
Umei sat at the other end of the table and was placing her duelist glove over her left hand and stretched out each of her fingers to make a tighter fit. She knew he wasn't talking to her, he never did, and he always went on about something just to himself.  
  
"So many opponents to face. Distinguishing the weaker from the stronger." Pegasus gleamed out the window.  
  
Umei began to place her two star chips on the slots of her glove. She had been the first off the boat just to enter the castle she hated so much that had her duel gauntlet and star chips lying in her bedroom.  
  
"Your mother would be proud wouldn't you think? Little Jopa dueling in her very first competition." Pegasus now glared at Umei as he shook his wine in its glass.  
  
Umei stood from her seat, practically knocking it over. She gazed at the floor. The only time he would talk to her was to toy with her about her mother's, his second wife's passing. Umei strolled out of the room without saying a word to him. Pegasus looked back out the window as a man dressed in a black tuxedo entered. He had tan skin and hacked blonde hair.  
  
"Mister Crawford, all contestants presence to awaiting your presentation."  
  
"Hmm, indeed, Wolfram, indeed." He spied back out the window.  
  
---  
  
"I've never seen cards like that!" The boy with purple hair and silver eyes from the boat whined as he fell to the ground. He dug his hands into the meadow's soft dirt, about to break down and cry. "Where did you get cards like that?"  
  
"Why would it matter, you lost anyway." Umei had her back towards him; she was placing two more star chips on her glove.  
  
"Please, I can't be thrown off the island yet! Duel me again okay?!" His eyes glittered with hope. He jumped to his feet and kept begging for another chance at a battle since he had not a single star chip left.  
  
"For what reason? You've just been eliminated, silly boy." Umei glared over at him from the corner of her eye. "Sawatari will be around to give you all the company you need, you're no more use to me anymore." Umei began to walk away.  
  
The boy ran in front of Umei, caressing her left hand in his. "I heard so much about you and was so stunned to duel someone with your stature! Let's duel for a second time now that I know!"  
  
Umei wasn't going to accept his bribe, "So you're saying it was a fluke... Pathetic. You rely on luck, I rely on my cards. A strong deck has a strong beholder. You just bought into believing you've already won this entire competition, people like you disgust me." Umei hissed shaking her hand loose. "Crying and bribing over a loss makes it seem as if you deserve to lose. Good day, silly boy." Umei looked back at him one last time; she then sprinted off through the forest.  
  
As the boy sat in the boat departing from the island full of other eliminated duelists, he still couldn't believe how Umei shape shifted in front of him. Was she a monster? Or was it that strange glowing fragment around her neck that did it all? He was scared stiff; he went up against Umei, thinking she'd be an easy target. Was it really her cards that did him in? Or those menacing purple eyes.  
  
---  
  
"So you're saying this Umei girl you met on deck was a total high-hat and didn't care about no one else but herself. Plus she's Pegasus' daughter. No wonder." Honda announced as the group was walking around a grassy clearing. "But why would she enter this competition to compete against her father? To show how good she is? If she wins she'll just get money she already owns..."  
  
"Oh yeah." Jounouchi puffed, "She was a cocky woman."  
  
"A.K.A. someone like you?!" Honda joked as Jounouchi got steamed.  
  
"ME!? Forget about it!" Jounouchi and Honda began to bicker.  
  
"Here they go again." Anzu looked at Yuugi.  
  
Yuugi was looking over his star chips. Three. Jounouchi had two. He then glanced at Anzu, "Hai..." Yuugi noticed a lot of people around him had their attention towards the sky while they pointed up at it amazed. Flashes of Red then black had flared over the faces of the group down below from the activity taking place up in the air, causing them to look up to the sky along with the others.  
  
"Whoa, more fireworks!" Jounouchi said in awe as he let go of Honda's shirt; which he was holding.  
  
"Those don't look like fireworks." Honda said letting his fist down, meaning to punch Jounouchi with it.  
  
A thunder bolt struck down upon them. Anzu and Yuugi leaped to the side as Jounouchi and Honda ducked. Where they were standing a burnt crevasse laid. More duelists were running towards the gang to see if they were all right.  
  
"Now that was one firework." Jounouchi gasped bewildered.  
  
"That wasn't a firework." Yuugi helped Anzu to her feet. As soon as they were up on their feet again, another bolt came from an opposite direction and struck a part of the forest that was close to them.  
  
"What's going on?" Honda gasped.  
  
Suddenly, Yuugi's Millennium Puzzle began to stick up, it circled around and around on the rope chain it was linked to. It pointed towards the same direction where the other thunder bolt fell. It kept jerking Yuugi closer to that direction. Yuugi was bemused.  
  
"Hey Yuug, enough parlor tricks." Jounouchi accused.  
  
"Believe me, it's no trick." Yuugi hesitated to say. It kept jerking him in the direction towards the thunderbolt touchdown.  
  
"Do you think it wants us to follow it?" Jounouchi said clueless.  
  
"No shit." Honda hit Jounouchi on the head innocently.  
  
"Come on you two!" Anzu called back as she ran after the already gone Yuugi.  
  
"Matte!" the two yelled in unison. They ran off too, leaving a bunch of confused spectators.  
  
---  
  
"What are you!!!" the boy with silver hair and purple eyes shrieked in terror. "How can you still be alive! You were struck by lightning!"  
  
Umei placed her star chip on her glove—the only one the boy had. She possessed five now. She looked at her prey. "Your brother put up more of a fight than you did before he was eliminated. You came to this island with two star chips, only with greed for the money as the prize. You lost in a duel before me and had only one left. When I dueled you I took your last one, giving me five." Umei held up her left hand. "I meant for you to be electrocuted... why did you back away when you tried to steal my star chips from me. You could be dead and wouldn't have to live with the wreak of losing."  
  
"You eliminated my brother!" He growled.  
  
Umei began to walk off, "Indeed I did, and thanks for the card we betted on. Too bad you never used it in battle, I would have loved to destroy your strongest monster right in front of you. You should never value something so much you would never want to put it into affect." Umei scoffed. She held up the back of a card. "Meteor Black Dragon."  
  
"You will pay! Your reputation blinds you!" The silver hair of the boy flared behind him as he threatened the sixteen-year-old retreating female. He pulled a knife from his back pocket. "Kutabre subeta! If you won't give me my chips or my card back, you die! Shine!" he ran at Umei, the knife aiming for her spine.  
  
Umei quarter-turned to him, "Or you die..." her purple eyes flickered. As soon as he was a few inches away from her, he flew backwards! The necklace around her neck began to rumble as he was hurled at least seven feet above the ground; finally halting by slamming into the trunk of a tree. On impact, a crunching sound filled the air. His lifeless form fell to the ground.  
  
He rummaged the tarnished grass with his hands, "Damn you..." He coughed; blood drenched the corners of his mouth.  
  
"Damn us all." Umei took the knife from his corpselike hands. As she lingered over the fallen boy, it looked as if she was ready to stab him in revenge for him trying to assault her  
  
"How could you!" Umei looked around to see the owner of the voice. Jounouchi was shouting at her enraged as if she injured the guy... Well maybe she did.  
  
As soon as she caught sight of Jounouchi she began to walk away, but after she took a good look at the small boy, Motou Yuugi.  
  
"Running scared!" Jounouchi shouted stepping in front of Yuugi. Anzu, on the other hand, ran ahead of everyone else to see if the damaged man was okay. "All you do is run, well walk, away from everyone who steps up to you!"  
  
"Another blonde? I'm starting to see a trend here with you Jounouchi." Honda shook his head.  
  
"Oi! It's not about the hair, it's about the personality and hers is the worst!" Jounouchi defended herself.  
  
"Is it also about features too." Honda said slyly.  
  
"Why Um-Ay?" Anzu murmured and kneeled beside the mangled man, lifting his head.  
  
"It's Umei..." Umei corrected still sedated.  
  
"What did you do to him." Honda squeaked up.  
  
"I did nothing, he did it to himself." Umei approached the tree Anzu was huddled over with the boy. Umei still held the knife in her hand, looming over Anzu. Anzu closed her eyes and began screaming we she noticed Umei edging for her. But instead of striking Anzu with the knife, Umei jabbed the knife into the trunk of the tree the boy slammed into.  
  
Umei looked back at Yuugi, "So how about it Yuu-kun." She held up her left hand. "I have five already, I see you have only three." Umei examined.  
  
"Well..." Yuugi finally noticed that his sennen totem had stopped spinning. Too bad he still didn't notice what also stopped glittering around Umei's neck.  
  
"Matte." Jounouchi walked in between Yuugi and Umei.  
  
"Jounouchi?" Yuugi gasped.  
  
"So the cheerleader speaks..." Umei mocked him.  
  
"Pff! On the boat you called me an incompetent brother to my little sister!" Jounouchi roared.  
  
"So?" Umei shrugged.  
  
"You called me an unworthy duelist and you'd be the first to eliminate me. Well , you weren't the first person I dueled. It was Mai and I won! I'm still here! Not what you expected, ne!" Jounouchi yelled proudly.  
  
"You actually beat Mai, that perverted underdog, Ryuzaki, must've had his bad luck rub off on her." Umei despised Jounouchi even more.  
  
"Further more, I haven't been eliminated yet, and I'm gon'na live up to my and other's expectations of myself! I'll show you, my sister doesn't have an incompetent brother! And I am worthy. Most of all! I'm no cheerleader and I will give our school a rating of FIVE!" Jounouchi finished. A sweat drop rolled down Yuugi's forehead..  
  
Umei smiled, "I'm so glad you're sticking up for yourself, Katsuya. But you'd wish you had Yuugi duel for you. I'll duel you... Katsuya."  
  
"Really!" Jounouchi grinned, 'Ha! What an idiot! She's not even that good of a duelist.' Jounouchi grimaced at his thought as he remembered the magazine Yuugi lent him to read.  
  
Umei's eyes narrowed.  
  
"Okay! Let's duel!" Jounouchi announced happily.  
  
"Okay... Cheerleader..."  
  
---  
  
The end? 


	2. Fear! Domineer of the Cards Unleashed

A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode Two: Fear! The Domineer Maestro of the Cards unleashed!  
  
-  
  
"Before we duel, how about you choose your own fate." Umei smiled evilly at Jounouchi.  
  
"Whad'dya mean?" Jounouchi asked dumbfounded. Yuugi stood next to him as Honda held the unconscious silver-haired boy on his shoulders. Anzu was still kneeling on the ground next to Honda.  
  
"If you like, being the brave but stupid opponent, you can duel me somewhere else. A little surprise if you like to call it that. But, being a coward and smart opponent, you can duel me right here, right now." Umei fanned herself.  
  
'What does she mean being a brave and stupid opponent?! Duel somewhere else? Sounds pretty fishy to me. This place she's talking about, it may give her an advantage, but dueling her here might give me an even bigger advantage!' Jounouchi smiled.  
  
"..." Umei narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Okay! I've decided. I'll duel you... Here!" Jounouchi began to laugh hysterically. Yuugi stared at him.  
  
"Fine then." Umei chuckled.  
  
'What gives, she's lost her advantage!' Jounouchi winced.  
  
The arena spread from the ground as Umei and Jounouchi took their places. Umei was quick to notice something:  
  
"Oh and Yuugi, you might want to get him to the boat so he'll be shipped to a hospital, you know, I don't want to be charged for murder." Umei smiled as she pointed to the guy leaning over Honda's shoulders.  
  
"Honda, Anzu, could you two get him to that boat that's just about to leave the island down at the beach?" Yuugi ordered. The two nodded and ran back over the hill.  
  
"So cheerleader, ready to lose." Umei mocked.  
  
"We'll see who is a cheerleader after this match!" Jounouchi shouted at her. He held up his duelist glove. "How many are we wagering for?!"  
  
"How about three," Umei smiled, "You barely have that many, so, if I win, you are eliminated! If I lose, I'll still be on this island. Gomen, but I doubt I'll lose..."  
  
"Jounouchi, don't agree with this match! If you're eliminated no one will be there for your sister!" Yuugi warned.  
  
'Yuugi is right, if I lose, no one will be there for Shizuka...' Jounouchi thought.  
  
"Second thoughts? If you want to back out, I'd understand, it just proves that—"  
  
"No! I won't back out, if I do then it'll prove what you've said on the boat. I'll show you I'm worthy, I won't let what you've said be taken into affect. Let's duel!" Jounouchi slapped all his star chips on the counsel. 'It's amazing how much I'm sticking up for myself! It's amazing how much she reminds me of Mai!'  
  
"Very good choice, Katsuya." Umei placed three on the counsel as well. "Hai, let us duel. But Jounouchi, since you really aren't that worthy of an opponent, I have no use of transforming before you."  
  
"Nani?!" Jounouchi and Yuugi gasped in unison.  
  
'Transform?' Yuugi's attention finally surfaced to Umei's neck. On a black lace choker was a glowing Egyptian eye! 'Is that a Millennium item!'  
  
Umei beamed, "Did I stutter."  
  
"Enough talk, let's go, ladies first." Jounouchi grinned thinking how easy this match would be. Two thousand life points flashed on the screens.  
  
Umei drew her five cards but smirked when she did. "I'd like to start by placing this field change card down first!" her card she chose went on the counsel. On the field of the arena, it began to snow!  
  
"Nani!" Jounouchi was amused.  
  
The snowing stopped as the once green meadow of the arena was covered in hail. Suddenly, mountains upon mountains of ice sprouted from the ground and ice shards were floating in the air.  
  
"A winter wonderland?!" Jounouchi laughed, "What kind of card is that!"  
  
"Like I said, it's a field change card, Arctic, and you'll soon see how wonderful this wonderland is." Umei looked at Yuugi.  
  
He shifted his eyes back to Jounouchi.  
  
"But anyway, it's your turn Katsuya." Umei fanned herself with her cards.  
  
"Hai!" He looked at his hand. "Fine, I play, Masaki the legendary Swordsman." He threw his card down on the counsel. The holographic swordsman appeared on the field with the attack power of 1100. "What ya' think about that."  
  
"I think you've just made your first mistake." Umei grimaced. "Look at your monster."  
  
"Huh?!" Masaki the legendary swordsman lost two-hundred points to his attack power, "Nine-hundred, nani!"  
  
"Is it really? Any monster besides a Wind, Fire, and Water type on the Arctic field will loose 200 points to their defense or attack." Umei explained.  
  
"You tricked me!"  
  
"How did I trick you!" Umei shouted losing her personage.  
  
"You didn't explain this at the start."  
  
Umei practically fell off the stand. "Baka!" Jounouchi began to laugh. "Fine, you want to accuse me, accuse this. It's my turn. I set this card face down and I place in attack mode... Windy Unicorn!" A Unicorn with a flowing gray mane like a lion's stood before Jounouchi's Masaki. It had the tail of a lion and it's horn spiraled. Attack power of nine hundred and defense of nine hundred.  
  
"Oh wow, a miscreated mess of a unicorn!" Jounouchi taunted Umei.  
  
"Have you forgot the two-hundred points it gets for being a wind type." Umei explained. From 900 attack and defense points to 1100 attack and defense points, the Windy Unicorn began to neigh.  
  
"Kuso, I forgot about that."  
  
"Now attack, Windy Unicorn!" the unicorn galloped over to Masaki. "Wind Cry!" From it's mane a rush of shards flashed towards Masaki. They went through his body and he disintegrated.  
  
"Lucky," Jounouchi drew one card from his deck. "Hai! I'm getting the hang of this! Go Flame Swordsman." His swordsman gained two hundred points for both attack and defense: 2000, 1800. "Now attack!" The Flame Swordsman sliced the Windy Unicorn in half, disintegrating it as well.  
  
Umei: 1900 , Jounouchi: 1800  
  
"So good to see you're using your head" Umei looked at Yuugi. "Yuugi, any plans you have after this duel..."  
  
Yuugi jumped when the attention turned towards him.  
  
"Leave Yuugi out of this, hurry up and move!" Jounouchi yelled at her.  
  
Umei scowled, "How persistent of you. Blue Gypsy!" A Gypsy dressed in a flaunting blue outfit appeared on the field. Plus 200 points. Attack: 2000 Defense: 1800!  
  
"Ha! Both our monsters have the same attack and defense!" Jounouchi pointed out.  
  
"Did you forget about the card that I played a turn ago?! I flip it over now! Red Gypsy!" An identical Gypsy dressed in red stood beside the blue one. "Gypsy performers band together! Since I have two Gypsies on the field they get 200 more points each. I set a card face down."  
  
Red Gypsy- Attack: 2200 Defense: 2000 , Blue Gypsy- Attack: 2200 Defense: 2000  
  
"Iie!" Jounouchi gasped.  
  
"Attack, Blue Gypsy!" Umei ordered as the Gypsy danced over to the Flame Swordsman. It twirled around him and kicked him straight in the gut, he disintegrated.  
  
"Kuso." Jounouchi murmured.  
  
"Come on cheerleader..."  
  
"Shut your damn mouth woman!" Jounouchi glanced through his cards and drew another. 'She definitely reminds me of Mai. Ah Ha! Perfect.'  
  
"Hmm?" Umei arched an eyebrow.  
  
"Go, Baby Dragon." Attack: 1200, Defense: 700.—Attack: 1400, Defense: 900.  
  
'What's he trying to pull.' Umei thought in confusion.  
  
"You must be thinking, just because I drew a weak little baby dragon, you can beat me!" Jounouchi smiled. 'Just how I beat Mai, when my Magician Clock is drawn, I'll win for sure.'  
  
'Jounouchi is gon'na play his Magician Clock!' Yuugi glanced.  
  
"I won't let him attack just yet, but I will place this card face down." Jounouchi smiled.  
  
"Jounouchi, you're taking a big gamble!" Yuugi shouted. 'Placing his Magician Clock face down? Umei can just attack him now, what is he planning?'  
  
"Hmm, Katsuya, I won't attack either." Umei sighed.  
  
"N-Nani?!" Yuugi and Jounouchi said in unison.  
  
"Instead, I place this Magic Card! Block Attack. Switches your Baby Dragon from Attack mode to Defense mode."  
  
"What was the point of that." Jounouchi laughed. Jounouchi pulled a card. "Hai! I play, Magician Clock!" The Magician Clock floated in the air.  
  
'If it wasn't the Magician Clock he played face down... then what?' Yuugi pondered.  
  
"Spinner go!" Jounouchi shouted as the spinner on the roulette began to spin.  
  
'Jounouchi... Baka.' Umei frowned.  
  
It stopped on a time machine!  
  
"Hai Hai! Now watch as time goes by a thousand years! And watch as your two Gypsies age as well!" Jounouchi bellowed.  
  
Umei was unaffected.  
  
"Nani?!" Jounouchi was surprised. 'So damn calm?'  
  
Time stopped, but Umei's gypsies didn't age!  
  
"Oi! What happened?!" Jounouchi and Yuugi were both bedazzled.  
  
"I had a magic card still on the filled remember. Before the Snowstorm." Umei chuckled. "Before the Snowstorm is a magic card that protects ALL monsters on the field from time attacks by activating those floating ice shards. Like a little shield. Too bad your Baby Dragon was protected too, I guess he can't become the Thousand Dragon you were hoping for. Now that your turn is over, attack, Blue Gypsy!" The Blue Gypsy danced around Baby Dragon and destroyed him.  
  
'Ah man, what do I do now? Fire Soul, if only I had the Flame Swordsman to play it with. Hmm.' Jounouchi itched his head. "I play Garuziis and a card face down." Jounouchi gasped with no enthusiasm in his voice.  
  
"Already giving up? Blue Gypsy, attack the Magician Clock." The Blue Gypsy sprinted over to the Magician Clock. She jumped at him but.... CLING.  
  
"Ha!" Yuugi smiled.  
  
"The Boomerang Chain?!" Umei fumed. 'How idiotic could I've been, I've should've seen that coming.'  
  
"That's right, your arrogance blinded you to attacking my Magician Clock, not even thinking of my trap!" Jounouchi jumped up and down. "Your Gypsy's attack points go down by 500 points, and my Garuziis' attack goes up by 500!" Jounouchi smiled viciously.  
  
Blue Gypsy: Attack-1700, Defense-2000 / Garuziis: Attack-2300  
  
"And since you've just ended your turn, Garuziis attack!" Jounouchi ordered, Garuziis' Boomerang Chain squeezed the Blue Gypsy to her death.  
  
Umei: 1000, Jounouchi: 1600  
  
'Good, I'm ahead, and I'm gon'na keep it that way.' Jounouchi grimaced with pride.  
  
Umei became frustrated.  
  
"Come on Jounouchi, think hard, you can't loose." Yuugi cheered his friend on.  
  
"You're the first person I've fought that was able to defeat one of my Gypsies, don't think you've won yet." Umei spied. "Raise Dead! I'll bring back one of my monsters from the graveyard! And you know which one..."  
  
"Kuso!" Jounouchi gasped.  
  
Blue Gypsy: Attack-2200, Defense-2000  
  
"And since your chain only works once, you can't trap me again."  
  
"Yeah, but it does make a great weapon! And my Garuziis attack power is still greater then yours." Jounouchi sniggered.  
  
"Why should I aim for your Garuziis? Blue Gypsy, attack the clock!" And so the Magician Clock was destroyed.  
  
Umei: 1000, Jounouchi: 1100  
  
"A little set back, but I'm still ahead." Jounouchi looks at his cards. 'Hmm, Salamandra... Copy Cat...Giltia.' Jounouchi pulls a card from the deck. 'Armored Lizard...'  
  
"Hurry up and make a move!"  
  
"I play Copy Cat, and copy your Raise Dead card. And I use it to bring back my Flame Swordsman!" Jounouchi's Flame swordsman was back on the field.  
  
Umei huffed. "Finished?"  
  
"Matte! Not only does it get 200 points for being a fire type, but also, I do add Salamandra to its attack, giving him 700 more points!  
  
Flame Swordsman: Attack-2700, Defense-1800  
  
"Now you're using your head Jounouchi!" Yuugi glanced at Umei. "Guess he isn't that much of an amateur!"  
  
Umei winced.  
  
"Now, attack the Blue Gypsy!" Jounouchi laughed. The Blue Gypsy was gone once again.  
  
Umei: 500 , Jounouchi: 1100  
  
"One more hit like that and it's over! I think I'll aim for your Red one next!" Jounouchi mocked Umei.  
  
"I place Red Gypsy in Defense Mode, and I place this card in attack mode. Hypnotic Water Dancer!" A feminine, almost human monster appeared on the field. It was as if she were sculpted from water as her liquid body glistened, wild untamed hair ran around the whole field from the creature. Unfortunately, the attack of the Water Dancer was 0 and the Defense, 0!  
  
Jounouchi drooled, "HA! That thing doesn't even have an attack or defense strength. Too bad she isn't as good as she looks! Baka." Jounouchi couldn't stop making wisecracks. Umei was unaffected, as usual.  
  
The Water Dancer stood, something was happening! Her whole body was freezing over, encased in ice, she still stood. Suddenly, her ice barrier broke, The Water Dancer was much more different than before! She resembled a sort of ice maiden.  
  
"Allow me to introduce the Rare Elven Ice Dancer. When the Hypnotic Water Dancer is on the field, an ice field, she will freeze. When frozen, she will break away from her icicle prism and is very much different." Umei howled.  
  
Rare Elven Ice Dancer: Attack-3200, Defense-3000  
  
"Kuso!" Yuugi and Jounouchi gasped in unison  
  
"Don't ever doubt me, now... attack the Flame Swordsman! Trinity Shard Storm!" And then, it was over. The Flame Swordsman was gone.  
  
Umei: 500, Jounouchi: 0  
  
"I lost..." Jounouchi stumbled backward, he was in some sort of trance. He couldn't stay focused. His star chips shook on the counsel. His cards in his hand fell to the counsel, his fists fell to the counsel.  
  
"Jounou..." Yuugi sighed. Anzu and Honda were heading back towards the arena.  
  
"Did Jounouchi win?" Anzu shouted.  
  
"Iie..." Honda gasped. Both stopped besides Yuugi.  
  
Umei threw Jounouchi's star chips in the air and caught them. She was standing at the bottom of the arena now. Jounouchi was still on the arena, head held down. "Your cheerleader was the real arrogant one. He actually thought he could beat me. Baka..." Umei kept droning on. "He thought he could help his sister, he couldn't even help himself. His sister is as good as dead."  
  
"Enough!" Yuugi spat out. His Millennium Puzzle flashed. A luminous white light spread around him. Mou Hitori no Boku appeared.  
  
"Millennium Puzzle..." Umei smiled.  
  
"You've done enough boasting about being the best. You've ruined Jounouchi, you've ruined everything he worked for." Yami Yuugi pointed towards her.  
  
"If you want to duel me, go ahead and say so, don't try and back it up." Umei snarled.  
  
"Yuugi will wipe that smirk right off your lips when he's done with you." Anzu admonished.  
  
"No one talks that way to Jounouchi except me!" Honda finished.  
  
Jounouchi finally stepped from the arena, he walked in the opposite direction.  
  
"Jounouchi! Where are you going!" Anzu asked.  
  
"Probably going to jump off one of the cliffs, a broken man he is now, not deserving a life." Umei began to walk off as well.  
  
"I challenge you to a duel!" Yami Yuugi shouted behind her. She stopped.  
  
Umei peered over to them. Yuugi... Honda... Anzu... Even Jounouchi... Umei felt something strike her really hard. In the pit of her heart she felt it speed up and slow down. Her blood boiled as she gazed at Yuugi. It was Yuugi's fault Seto had left, it was Yuugi's fault Mokuba was in Pegasus' grip, it was Yuugi's fault Seto didn't believe in her anymore, and it was Yuugi's fault Umei was depressed. It was time for her to avenge both Seto and Mokuba. Friendship wasn't what got Yuugi or Jounouchi far, it was luck, and his luck was about to run out.  
  
"Yuugi... I accept."  
  
-  
  
To be Continued. 


	3. Unbeatable! Elven Ice Dancer's Appears

~Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh; "So cheerleader, ready to lose." Umei mocked.  
  
"We'll see who's a cheerleader after this match!" Jounouchi shouted at her.  
  
"—and I place this card in attack mode. Hypnotic Water Dancer!"  
  
Jounouchi drooled, "HA! That thing doesn't even have an attack or defense strength. Too bad she isn't as good as she looks!"  
  
"Allow me to introduce the Rare Elven Ice Dancer. When the Hypnotic Water Dancer is on the field, an ice field, she will freeze. When frozen, she will break away from her icicle prism and is very much different." Umei laughed.  
  
"I lost..." Jounouchi was in some sort of a trance as he couldn't stay focused.  
  
"I challenge you to a duel!" Yami Yuugi shouted behind her.  
  
"Yuugi... I accept."~  
  
-  
  
A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode Three: Unbeatable! The Rare Eleven Ice Dancer's Second Appearance  
  
-  
  
"Which one?" Umei asked.  
  
"Huh?" Yami Yuugi's eyes blinked.  
  
"Duel me now, in this meadow... Or, duel me in a MUCH different arena... Your choice." Umei flipped her bangs; it dangled back to its previous position.  
  
Yami Yuugi pondered about what she meant.  
  
~~~  
  
"If you like, being the brave but stupid opponent, you can duel me somewhere else. A little surprise if you like to call it that. But, being a coward and smart opponent, you can duel me right here, right now."  
  
~~~  
  
"A surprise. Where is this surprise?" Yami Yuugi interrogated.  
  
A grimace of delight broke out over Umei's face. "Follow me."  
  
"Should we trust her?" Anzu murmured to Honda. "What if she tries to steal Yuugi's starchips?"  
  
"She's only one person, she won't get away with anything." Honda arched his eyebrows.  
  
"But shouldn't we find Jou-kun?"  
  
"Jounouchi's tough, he can watch out for himself. He just needs time alone."  
  
"But what if Sawatari-san kicks Jou-kun off the island. He doesn't have any starchips left." Anzu requisitioned.  
  
"But it's not our problem."  
  
"What's wrong with you? You never acted like this before Honda?"  
  
"... Nothing—besides, didn't Jounouchi mention that Umei wasn't a good duelist." Anzu shrugged at Honda's comment. 'In that magazine it said she wasn't worth fighting right? So if Jounouchi could get beaten by someone who isn't worth the time of day, it's really his issue.'  
  
Umei laughed with aberration, "That magazine with my profile in it!" Umei was standing in front of the two now.  
  
"Nani!" Honda jumped.  
  
"Hai?" Anzu asked puzzled.  
  
"That was published a year ago." Umei chortled.  
  
Honda's face flushed scarlet red as Anzu chuckled at this mistake.  
  
"Uh..." Umei finally realized that this wasn't a joke anymore. She quickly lost the friendly smile and turned away. How could she have done that. Why try to act buddy-buddy with THOSE failures. She shifted her gaze back to a stubborn Yami Yuugi. "FOLLOW ME!" she shouted with narrowed eyes.  
  
"Are you finished?" Yami Yuugi taunted as she walked past him. "So there really is a person under all that hatred." He said expressionless.  
  
"Shut up! Kisama!" Umei cursed. She walked on. Yami Yuugi followed. Honda and Anzu lurched behind confused.  
  
"How did she know I was thinking about...." Honda trailed off.  
  
---  
  
Jounouchi sat on a beach just outside the woods of Duelist Kingdom. Stones and boulders were scattered unusually everywhere; it looked as if a dam was keeping people out of the beach. Jounouchi shook the thought off.  
  
"I can't believe I lost." Jounouchi slammed his fist into the ground. "Shizuka, gomen, I'm so sorry." A warm tear began to shine in his eye. He held his head down. His eyes were shadowed from his bushy, dirty-blonde bangs. Someone walked out of the same woods Jounouchi was in. The figure stood at the top of the beach, watching Jounouchi in the sand.  
  
"Reminds me, this beach reminds me of the time I took my sister to the beach. She'll never see happy moments like that anymore." Jounouchi grabbed a stone really close to him and chucked it into the water. He stood and walked over to the cool blue liquid. Before he got a chance to step one foot into the water someone grabbed him by the wrist.  
  
"Oi!"  
  
Sawatari was gripping hold of Jounouchi's arm with his right hand. He then used his left arm to grab on to Jounouchi's duelist glove. "Obvious." Sawatari hissed in Jounouchi's ear, "If you thought you could get away with staying on this island, and possibly conning someone out of their own star chips, you've got another thing coming."  
  
Sawatari then constrained both of Jounouchi's arms with his own muscular right hand alone. He then used his left to reach for the cell phone in his pocket. Jounouchi stopped resisting, he gave in. What was the point of fighting back?  
  
"Motsuwa-san, get the boats at the docks ready for another shipment of underdogs." Sawatari ordered another guard over the phone. The man on the other side said something back to Sawatari. "No, there's no need for that, I got this one under my control." He then clicked the phone off.  
  
"I can't believe this..." Jounouchi murmured to himself. "Why did I ever agree to a duel with Umei... That magazine article... A lie."  
  
"Ah, so you met Crawford-san's daughter. A badass little brat she was when I had to watch her when she was no older then seven. She's still a badass if you know what I mean. But I can't believe you lost to her, even I could've beaten her, HAHAHA!" Sawatari laughed with sarcasm oozing from his tone.  
  
"Kisama!" Jounouchi knocked his head into Sawatari's jaw. Sawatari stumbled back as Jounouchi eyed him.  
  
"Temee!" Sawatari wiped the blood from his chin. He then reached in his back pocket and revealed a shining metal. A silver revolver.  
  
Jounouchi stood out of his fighting pose and placed his hands up.  
  
Sawatari waltzed over to Jounouchi with caution. He kept the gun aimed at Jounouchi's head, "Learn your lesson well, baka—" Sawatari then smacked Jounouchi across the face with the back of his gun. Jounouchi staggered to the ground, his whole face throbbing in pain. Sawatari smirked, "--Or, you'll never know who is the true master." Sawatari pointed the gun back at Jounouchi. "Pathetic Dog, get up and get walking." He pushed the gun on top of Jounouchi's forehead and kept nudging him over and over. "I said—"  
  
"Please stop!" someone jumped from the top of the slope that outlined the beach. "No more!" a feminine voice came again.  
  
"What the hell do you want?" Sawatari pointed the gun towards the mysterious person. "Run, baka, before I turn my rage on you!"  
  
"No more," the figured squeaked. A girl that didn't really look like a girl stood before the two. She had short brown hair covered in a huge cowboy hat. Two long blunted brown bangs were sketched over the front of her face. She held her hands together all the way up to her chin.  
  
"Mind your own business."  
  
"There is too much hatred, no more. You can't send my boyfriend off the island, he's dueling for his sister,"  
  
"Nani..." Jounouchi gasped. 'How does... How does this stranger know that?' he thought to himself.  
  
"And--" the female continued, "--he needs the money in order to give her an operation. She needs a heart transplant." The girl pleaded as her deep blue eyes sparkled.  
  
Jounouchi practically fainted in humiliation, what a coincidental lie.  
  
"Rules are rules, no matter how pathetic his story may be." Sawatari growled.  
  
"Are you daft man!" the girl's voice picked up in volume, but only a little. "He is dueling for a good cause, I was holding his star chips all along! See." the girl began looking through her pockets. "Uh, wait one moment." She began pulling things out of her oversized, dark green jacket pockets. "Um here, no here. Maybe this. I don't know what this does, uh, this thing, oops, wait, here, no, here, crap."  
  
Jounouchi and Sawatari had blank expressions over their faces.  
  
A pile of junk was now crowded around the girl's feet.  
  
"Found them!" She held up five star chips. "See, two of them are his!"  
  
"Hm, I see. But to qualify for this competition you need both a star chip AND a duelist glove! Where's yours." Sawatari pointed the gun at her now.  
  
"Eep! I threw it down here somewhere!" the girl began searching through all the junk on the sand floor. "Let me see, this! No! is this, or this, maybe that is—"  
  
"Forget it, I have no time for this." Sawatari placed the gun back in his pocket. "You need to be more organized, and get your boyfriend out of my sight." Sawatari began to walk down the beach. "If I catch both of you without your star chips and duelist gloves again, your asses will be off MY island."  
  
Sawatari disappeared off the horizon.  
  
The girl kneeled by Jounouchi and rubbed his back; he was of course still lying on the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked.  
  
"Why didn't you mind your own business? Nosy ingrate." Jounouchi snapped under his breath.  
  
"Hey, hey. Please don't get mad." The girl held out her hand, two star chips were gleaming in them. "Do you want them."  
  
"No. I'll win my own." Jounouchi looked up to her for the first time.  
  
"But how will you? You can't challenge anyone now, you don't have any. You're gon'na need a start some how."  
  
"You've should've just minded your own damn business." Jounouchi pushed her away lightly.  
  
Her blue eyes sparkled again, "That's a horrible mark on your face. That guard, he hit you that hard." The girl placed her fingertips on Jounouchi's face, she touched lightly on the bruise. Jounouchi grabbed her hand.  
  
"Just go." Jounouchi stood.  
  
"What if another guard apprehends you? If you pull a move like the one you did with that other guard, you'll get shot."  
  
"Hmph. Then let them come..." Jounouchi grunted, finally releasing her hand.  
  
"You can't go alone. You'd get caught, most of the guards are out now, looking for the next shipment of people off this island." The girl begged.  
  
'This crazed, yet high-pitched sounding...' Jounouchi shrugged as he placed his hands in his pocket. "Hurry up!" Jounouchi called behind him as he walked back towards the forest.  
  
"Really!" The girl quickly gathered the rest of the junk on the floor "Wait up will you." She shouted behind him trying to keep most of her items in her hands.  
  
Jounouchi stopped. "By the way, what's your name. Me... I'm Jounouchi Katsuya."  
  
"Aie! Matouchi Mesmori."  
  
Jounouchi began to walk again. 'Strange name... for a boy.'  
  
---  
  
The group of four stood at the edge of a cliff. Below them—all the way at the very bottom—the waves crashed upon the jagged rocks and the wind began to pick up in velocity. It was silent. The only thing penetrating the dead silence was the waves, clapping, as it seemed, against the granite.  
  
Umei's vision became suddenly hazy. She stepped forward, trying to hold her balance. Yami Yuugi's eyes widened a bit.  
  
'Not again.' Umei's face became flushed and broke out with sweat. 'Don't take over again.' She held her head. This happened to her before, on the boat...  
  
On the boat, when she feel over the side of the boat and told Jounouchi she didn't it because "mom was calling" It wasn't 'mom' that Umei heard, that was just an excuse she would make up when this happened; especially if someone was annoying her, it would make her seem a little weird and that person would leave her alone... But not with Jounouchi. Why she really fell over to the other side of the rail was because when her eyes TRY to change purple, her face would shift into something, or just disappear all together for a few seconds. She didn't want someone to see her face that way... Rumors would spread, and with Umei, it was all about reputation. She felt something inside her that would always take over for a second or two, but with Jounouchi... It took over for quite some time, which is why her eyes and her attitude were different around him... This thing inside her, what was it?  
  
"Are you okay?" Anzu asked about to touch Umei's shoulder.  
  
"Don't touch me." Umei murmured as she felt her eyes beginning to throb; they were turning indigo. She wouldn't let them. She quickly buried her face in her hands and kneeled down.  
  
Yami Yuugi and the others stood with puzzled looks.  
  
Umei finally stood up, her back facing them. She turned around, still with her hands over her eyes.  
  
"Are you okay?" Honda spoke up.  
  
Umei's hands fell down to her sides. Her eyes were still their regular lime color. "Nothing's wrong." Umei quickly said as she turned back around.  
  
The dead silence rose again.  
  
Yami Yuugi broke it, "Where's this surprise?" he crossed his arms.  
  
"Nani?" Umei looked at him confused for a second and finally realized what they were doing there. She blushed in embarrassment, "It's right here."  
  
Anzu and Honda turned their heads to the sides, no dueling arena.  
  
Umei reached for the buckle of her belt and poked the hook on it. It blinked red. The ground began to rumble.  
  
Yami Yuugi held his ground without moving an inch. Honda on the other hand fell over onto Anzu who had fallen forward as well and was holding tightly onto Yami Yuugi's pants. The scene looked very humorous to Umei when she turned around; but she didn't laugh.  
  
The ground stopped vibrating. Anzu knocked Honda off her as she apologized to Yami Yuugi.  
  
Before them was a metal bridge, which resembled the Tokyo Bridge except it was colored gray, stretching all the way out into the horizon.  
  
"What is this?" Yami Yuugi questioned.  
  
"The Surprise, Yuugi-Kun." Umei stepped onto it.  
  
"Is that safe?" Anzu interrogated as she pointed towards the overpass.  
  
Umei jumped up and down on the bridge as her boots made a clinking sound. "Reinforced concrete steal, created when I was little and still as strong as it was then." Umei finally stopped jumping up and down and grew that narrow-eyed expression again. "Let's go." She shouted peeved.  
  
The four continued as they walked off from Duelist Kingdom.  
  
---  
  
After walking possibly five miles from the island, there was a peak with a wide, flat top before them. The quartet walked on its dusty surface, their footprints now apart of the land, proof that no one has walked on this peak for a LONG time.  
  
Seagulls were laying in the middle of the entire surface. Umei walked over to them and 'shooed' them away. There was a stone box where all the Seagulls were previously. She kneeled before it.  
  
"It's like a miniature desert; nothing except dust and the granite box." Honda pointed out, he then heard Anzu laughing in hysteria. He turned toward her and saw that Yami Yuugi had about five Seagulls perched on his shoulders. It WAS a silly sight until Umei assisted him by walking over to him and shooing those birds away too.  
  
"Done playing?" Umei asked Yami Yuugi as she clutched something nicely tucked under her arms.  
  
"What is that Umei?" Anzu asked, regaining her self-control.  
  
"This..." Umei looked at the glass cylinder in her hands. "This is the surprise." She then held it out. It WAS a glass cylinder, encased in another, larger, glass object; a pyramid. Inside the glass pyramid was a really tiny beige colored cube floating in the middle.  
  
"Please enlighten." Anzu asked, more so confused then ever.  
  
"This was the last gift I received from my mother, before she died... Where you see that box made of rock, that's actually her grave marker. She's buried here." Umei embraced the item tightly.  
  
Honda began to jump up and down, moving both feet every other time. "You know what they say, it's superstition to trample on someone's burial ground!" he shouted as he jumped back on the bridge.  
  
"I always thought it was superstition to destroyed a tombstone?" Anzu pondered.  
  
Yami Yuugi grew a little annoyed, "Are we gon'na duel some time soon?" he inquired crossing his arms.  
  
"Of course, now..." Umei raised her left hand in the air, "I have eight star chips now, chotto matte, that's right, you're fighting for your cheerleader. So if you win, you gain nothing while your friend gets another chance?" Umei chortled, "That is, if he still is on the island."  
  
"...That is true, I'm fighting for my friend..." Yami Yuugi rose his voice in a growl.  
  
"Pathetic! Friends come and go. How about this... If I win, you give me ALL your star chips AND your most valued card." Umei laughed some more as she pointed towards him.  
  
"If I win, you give all of Jou-kun's stars back." Yami Yuugi grew back his serious tone.  
  
"That's it? Tch, your choice." Umei shrugged. The clouds in the sky grew gray; thunder was heard echoing throughout the area. Like the duelist said before as he witnessed this before he was kicked off the island, she was electrocuted. "Now Yuugi, let me show you why I am the Domineer of Duel Monsters, why I am the Maestro of the cards." Umei began to chuckle. A lightning bolt struck besides Umei.  
  
Her voice then grew raspy as her eyes flickered from their pale green color to a sandy yellow, over and over again. She held up her left hand again as her height increased. Umei shut her eyes. Her hair began to grow darker; it grew so dark that it was now completely black. Her skin color grew caliginous as well and her nails became quite long. She was practically busting out of her outfit also. Through this whole time, her item attached to her choker glistened.  
  
She opened her now Hot Pink eyes as Honda and Anzu stepped back. It wasn't Umei anymore.  
  
"You possess a Millennium Item?" Yami Yuugi talked still holding his position.  
  
"Iie!" THIS Umei spoke in this raspy tone. Suddenly, Umei's regular voice came back, "This is not a millennium item, frankly, I don't know what it is or how it is able to create this dark one inside me, but the power is unbelievable. I'll just take it, how it comes."  
  
'Like me, there is something inside her as well.' Yami Yuugi thought for a moment. 'But inside her, something else, much different then this thing inside me.'  
  
"Hai Yuugi," the raspy tone was back, "but more so, this creature is not from my artifact." THIS Umei grasped the Egyptian eye symbol of her item. "It is from the Gates of Hell its self. Umei Jopa Crawford, my host, is lingering from there and to here. She can only take control of me little by little."  
  
"What do you mean?" Yami Yuugi clenched his fists. "A host?"  
  
"I didn't choose her, she chose me. The minute she grew hatred towards you Yuugi! That's when I was unleashed, I was harbored inside her very soul. She is known as my host because it won't be long until she has released her ultimate feelings towards you. I feed on her hatred and angst, making me stronger, soon, it will kill her, and I'll have her body. I am not the evil side of Umei, I am the true form of her!"  
  
Yami Yuugi grew a smirk across his face, "You are the true form of Umei's hatred, not her. It's true that there is a caring person inside Umei, but first, you will have to be destroyed in order to bring that Umei back."  
  
"I doubt that you could."  
  
"You're a disease, a virus."  
  
"Contracted when Umei gave herself to me, just when you broke Kaiba Seto. She wanted revenge, I knew how to help her." This Hellish Umei began to bellow.  
  
"You fooled her!" Yami Yuugi shouted.  
  
"She is a fool! You remember me, don't you, you tried to stop me that night!" Hell Umei roared.  
  
"Enough, not only will I win back Jou-kun's star chips, I will win back Umei's soul its self." Yami Yuugi finally got back to the topic at hand, "Enough reciting the past, its time to finish this!"  
  
"Perfect..." Hell Umei held out the pyramid still in her hand. "Tomb of the Damned! Unleash! Contaminate this field! Create the Arena of the Afterlife!" Hell Umei released the pyramid, it began to spin as it floated in the air. The cube inside the cylinder began to glow as red shadows and gray skeletons emitting from the pyramid engulfed the entire scene.  
  
---  
  
Yami Yuugi opened his eyes after the images had disappeared. Honda and Anzu were on the ground shielding their heads. Suddenly, Yami Yuugi finally caught on to what he was standing on.  
  
It WAS a duel arena, except, this arena was made of yellow stone. Hieroglyphs were sketched over the sides in what looked like blood. Black Skeletons hung on poles besides the outsides of the arena. The counsel was also made of yellow stone but had encarvings of where to put the cards.  
  
Yami Yuugi looked around, looking for his friends. Honda and Anzu were standing on the bridge since the arena took over most of the peak. Yami Yuugi then looked at the region that they were playing on, unbelievable! There was nothing but a dark mass—a void of nothingness. More skeletons, this time regular colored ones, were sticking out of the mass with blood marked on their faces. The scene was painful.  
  
"This was the first prototype of a duel arena my host's mother came up with." Hell Umei appeared on her own platform. "Pegasus wanted to use this prototype for his tournament, but it mysteriously disappeared. My host's mother some how was able to convert this arena into that glass cylinder you saw before."  
  
"Why did she?" Honda piped up while he was helping Anzu off the ground.  
  
"She was afraid... She hid the cylinder away, the night of her death. The main reason why her and Pegasus were fighting was because of that glass cylinder." Hell Umei gave a maniacal stare. Regular Umei's voice took over. "Is that true!"  
  
Yami Yuugi's eyes widened for a moment at the sound of Umei's familiar tone.  
  
"Silence, kisama!" the raspy tone came back. "Yuugi! We've held it off, we can't any longer, this is the end." Hell Umei was in control again. She placed Umei's deck in the holding zone and pulled five cards.  
  
Yami Yuugi did the same, "One more question..." he muttered as he pulled five cards, "What was Umei's mother afraid of..."  
  
Hell Umei arched an eyebrow but then grew that maniacal look again, "You want to know? She was afraid that using this arena would plunge this dimension back to the Day of the Djinns." Hell Umei closed her eyes. "When all three cards are placed on the field, the arena will change into the ritual place where the Djinns died three thousand years ago. Then, what ever happens here in the arena... Will happen to the Earth."  
  
"Nani!" Yami Yuugi, Honda, and Anzu gasped in unison.  
  
"Let's say, if a monster is destroyed in this arena, some one will die, possibly even your friends." Hell Umei looked over to them, "Maybe even Honda, Jounouchi...Anzu..."  
  
"That's enough!"  
  
"Worse, what if a stronger monster, stars over five, is destroyed. Parts of the world will be annihilated, like a nuclear bomb had been dropped on that region." Hell Umei continued.  
  
"So many will die! Why do you want to do this!" Anzu demanded.  
  
"Silence, I will become even stronger from their deaths. Their souls will combine with mine and I will hypnotize the mortals that were spared, having them fight and kill one another. The world will become a second hell!"  
  
"What will you do next, after everyone is dead!" Anzu defiled her wishes of keeping quiet.  
  
"That's enough Anzu." Yami Yuugi admonished.  
  
"I will travel to other dimensions, infecting other hosts, destroying that world, and the next!" Hell Umei smiled. "And when it is over, I can finally return to Hell, taking it over as well, becoming ruler, and creating a world of demons."  
  
"You have no purpose to do that! You damn monster! No one is the perfect being, especially not you, Busu!" Anzu shouted.  
  
"How dare you talk to me like that!" Hell Umei's hair began to rustle in the wind as it stood on end. "You will not talk to a Sovereign like that!" Five small granite spheres with stakes coming out of them floated behind Hell Umei. "You wench, you need to learn some respect!" The spike balls flew at Anzu with a driving force.  
  
"Anzu!" Yami Yuugi was about to jump from the platform.  
  
Anzu quickly dodged four of the spikes but the last one impacted her right arm. It ripped through her shirtsleeve, "Gah!" she screamed in pain. The ball was now lodged in her skin as blood gushed out of her wound. She held her shoulder and stooped to the dusty territory.  
  
"Anzu!" Honda kneeled beside her and tried to pull the sphere out of her arm, but each time he did, a dark electrical energy would shock him.  
  
"Anzu..." Yami Yuugi turned to jump off the podium.  
  
"I wouldn't do that Yuugi... Either you duel me now, or she dies." Hell Umei threatened as she held her hand towards Anzu, still keeping her eyes on Yami Yuugi. She clenched her fists. The ball began to shock the battered girl as she screamed in agony.  
  
"Stop!" Yami Yuugi ordered.  
  
"I will electrocute her to death if you leave the platform." Hell Umei smiled. "She'll be fine as long as you don't defy me. I'm calling the shots now. Just think, if you win, not only you help your friend, save Umei's body, you also save her life. But that's IF you win" she emphasized.  
  
Yami Yuugi turned back towards the counsel.  
  
'Fool.' Hell Umei thought as she looked back towards the bleeding Anzu, 'As we speak, my sphere is draining her life energy, she dies either way...'  
  
"Hurry up then," Yami Yuugi looked back at Anzu, "begin your turn." He spoke without taking his eyes off her.  
  
---  
  
'Where'd they go? I wasn't gone long, why can't I find them.' Jounouchi thought as he was at the same arena he lost in. Another duel was being taken place between two teenage boys that were in Jounouchi's class. Mesmori was sitting next to a tree enjoying the shade from the scorching sun.  
  
"So..." She spoke up as she was trying to stuff her pockets full with her junk from before. "Why are you here?"  
  
"You've partially explained it." Jounouchi honeycombed. He began to walk on.  
  
"What does that mean!?" She called out in that low tone of hers as she tried to place the last pieces of what looked like a half of a donut in her khaki pants pocket. "Hold on please!" She then tripped over her own two feet as she tried to get off the ground.  
  
Jounouchi turned towards her, "You DO need to be more organized... Like Sawatari said." He laughed at what he saw. It looked like Mesmori was trying to eat the grass.  
  
"Luckily, this soft dirt broke my fall." She dusted herself off, you could see her body print still marked into the soil.  
  
"Huh?" Jounouchi looked at it. "That's it, that's how we'll find them." Jounouchi got on the ground and began crawling on all fours.  
  
"What'cha doin'?" Mesmori placed her hands on her hips and looked at Jounouchi puzzled.  
  
"Help me look for a footprint or two."  
  
"Um... Hai." She fell to the floor and began crawling around. Both the twosome grabbed the attention of the two boys dueling.  
  
"Ah, it's hopeless I'll never find a—eck !" Jounouchi lifted up the palm of his right hand. There was the other half of Mesmori's jelly filled donut smeared all over his hand. "I hate to see this kid's room, probably worse then mine—Hm." Jounouchi looked down. A foot print. "Ha! A shoe imprint, and judging by the shoe, it's Anzu's boots." Jounouchi got off the ground. "It's a wild guess but it has to be her shoe."  
  
"Are we done looking, I'm really hungry." Mesmori was sitting under another tree popping a different donut—A glazed one—in her mouth. Obviously, she didn't bother looking at all.  
  
"Slacker..." Jounouchi mumbled. His eyes followed the trail of the footprint, it did lead somewhere. "Come on!" he called behind him as he walked on.  
  
"Wait up!" She jumped off the ground and almost tripped again as she ran after Jounouchi.  
  
'I'm come'n guys.' Jounouchi thought as he looked at his right hand still with Mesmori's donut smudged over it. He licked some of it. "Mmm, Strawberry feeling." He licked some more as he ran on.  
  
---  
  
Anzu's tracks stopped at the foot of the metal bridge. Jounouchi sat by it as he waited for Mesmori to catch up. He looked around. No sign of Anzu's feet going somewhere else, they had to have crossed this bridge. But where did this bridge lead.  
  
Mesmori ran up to him but didn't stop. She jogged in place. "Don't tell me you're already tired." She huffed.  
  
"Just wondering where to go next." Jounouchi looked off into the horizon. He watched the waves crash on the beach off in the distance.  
  
"I never saw this bridge before." Mesmori was still jogging in place as she ran on it. Jounouchi thought she was the strangest character he had ever met. "I mean, I've been all around the island, and I passed this spot about six times. But this bridge was never here."  
  
Jounouchi stood up and looked at her.  
  
"Really, I have." Mesmori smiled innocently.  
  
Jounouchi then stared at the bridge. Even if his friends didn't go down this steel elevated structure, Jounouchi was curious as to where it would lead them. "Do you want to?" he pointed his thumb towards the direction the bridge led.  
  
"Nani!" Mesmori looked at Jounouchi with a scared expression.  
  
"Nani?" he asked looking at her baffled.  
  
"A fog is coming in..." Mesmori pointed out. Indeed, a haze was forming around the bridge.  
  
"So..." Jounouchi shrugged.  
  
"We'd be the only two out in that fog... Alone on that bridge... How do I know if you won't try and seduce me or worse, rape me!" Mesmori backed off.  
  
"You're joking right?" Jounouchi practically fell off the bridge dumbfounded. "If I haven't already, what makes you think I would." He laughed as he walked on.  
  
"... That is not a good response ya' know!" Mesmori warned. "I'll press charges ya' know! I have pepper spray in my back pocket, as soon as I can find it, it goes great with tacos." She followed.  
  
'Hmph, rape... I'm not that kind of person.' Jounouchi thought, 'Why would I assault a boy.'  
  
---  
  
"You never answered my question." Mesmori walked up besides Jounouchi.  
  
"Yes I did." Jounouchi quickly said, not slowing his pace.  
  
"All you said was I partially had it right... What does that mean?" Mesmori's eyes sparkled, like they always do.  
  
Jounouchi stopped walking, his back towards her. Mesmori had her strange notion creep in the corners of her mind; she was about to take off running in the other direction. Silence. It looked as if Jounouchi was a statue.  
  
He finally broke the silence and he spun around, face to face with Mesmori. "Uh, what are we talking about again?" he asked dumbfounded.  
  
"Geck!" Mesmori had a more dumbfounded look than Jounouchi. Did he even listen to her half the time? How stupid of her to think that HE—Someone who was about to get kicked off the island—listened to anyone? "Why are you here?" she said again for the third time.  
  
Jounouchi turned around, "You tell me, why are you here?"  
  
"Well..." Mesmori began twiddling her thumbs, "I sort of followed someone here."  
  
"So you snuck on the boat."  
  
"Iie, Iie, I would never do a sinful thing like that." Mesmori shook her head—Daddy's little girl. "I was actually paid to be captain."  
  
Sweat broke out on Jounouchi's forehead.  
  
"I'm not lying. This guy paid me too. He was wearing a long dark purple cape and a hood that covered his eyes so I couldn't see his face. He gave me my two star chips and my duelist glove along with the money." Mesmori smiled politely.  
  
"You just accepted it!" Jounouchi yelled at her bewildered, of course, if it were him, he would've accepted the money as well. "How much did you get?"  
  
"About... Six Hundred thousand... Yep." Mesmori placed her index finger to her chin as she spoke.  
  
Jounouchi's jaw dropped.  
  
"Besides, if I didn't accept his offer I would've had to have snuck on the boat, which is s a cruel and selfish thing to do if you want to take the easy way out." She huffed angrily as she clenched her fists up to her chin.  
  
Jounouchi's eyebrow twitched while he remembered how Honda and Anzu got here.  
  
"He only left me with one bit of information... He said he'll be back for me if I didn't eliminate the duelist I wanted to find. He said he knew who I was... Strange huh?" Mesmori stuck out her tongue and made a comical expression.  
  
"Do you still have the money!" Jounouchi blurted out.  
  
"The Six hundred thousand?" Jounouchi shook his head up and down really fast, "... Nope sorry..."  
  
"NANI?!" Jounouchi grabbed her by the shoulders and began shaking her, "What happened to it!"  
  
"I gave it to a homeless man at the docks, poor vagabond, down on his luck..." Mesmori's eyes sparkled.  
  
"I'm down on my luck you BAKA!" Jounouchi shouted in her ear, how stupid could someone be!  
  
"It's for a good cause! I made a poor man and his pup happy!" Mesmori jolted from his grip and kept walking on. "Besides, you should be happy I didn't steer the boat off course, if it wasn't for that compass or the map conveniently posted on the wall, you, and everyone else, would have been sleeping with the fishes."  
  
Jounouchi shook his head in disbelief as he continued to walk on as well, "I don't believe this guy..." he muttered as the fog began to pick up.  
  
Both the duo stopped in their tracks, they couldn't believe their eyes at what they saw. Is that a duelist arena? Why is there an arena on a flat peak? Jounouchi noticed who was dueling upon it.  
  
Jounouchi shouted in joy as he ran towards the peak, "Yuugi!"  
  
He left Mesmori in the dust. "Yuugi? That's the guy I..." Mesmori trailed off as she ran after Jounouchi.  
  
---  
  
Honda quarter-turned to see his friend run up to him. "Jounouchi? Is that you?"  
  
"Who else would it be?" he chuckled. He then noticed that Honda was kneeling beside Anzu and began blinking; he didn't notice her shirt was cut.  
  
"How did you find us?" Anzu choked out, trying to turn towards Jounouchi.  
  
"How else? I followed your enormous feet." Jounouchi joked.  
  
"I would slap you, but my arm is pretty occupied at the moment." She nodded towards her shoulder. Jounouchi finally saw it, the spiked sphere combined with her flesh.  
  
"Who did it!" Jounouchi demanded.  
  
".... Umei... But it is not Umei at all." Honda pointed towards the arena.  
  
Jounouchi recognized Yuugi, but his opponent, that was NOT Umei! His eyes bulged. "Are you sure that's her!"  
  
Honda shook his head up and down.  
  
"Kisama!" Jounouchi cursed as Mesmori finally entered the scene.  
  
"Hm? Jounouchi, who is this guy?" Honda asked.  
  
"Mesmori..." Jounouchi didn't take his stare off the arena.  
  
"Honda! Can't you see, that's a girl." Anzu tried to shout but her voice only picked up a little.  
  
"No it isn't." he looked puzzled. "How would you know?"  
  
"I'm a girl, baka! Girl's know these things." Anzu acknowledged.  
  
"Hello, glad to be an acquaintance towards you." Mesmori bowed her head politely and gave them a friendly smile; now she was the one that didn't notice the static electricity emitting from Anzu's arms, or the duelist arena.  
  
"Your name is Mesmori?" Anzu asked.  
  
Her eyes sparkled. "Hai, Matouchi Mesmori." She couldn't lose her smile.  
  
"Do you go... that way?" Honda asked dumbfounded.  
  
"HIROTO!" Anzu yelled at him bemused. She pushed him with her uninjured shoulder as he fell on the ground.  
  
Mesmori still had that smile as sweat broke out on her face. "Iie..." She opened her eyes and looked towards the arena. She saw the strange looking black-haired girl, and then she saw... That was him! That was the guy she gave the magazine to!  
  
"So how did you meet with Jounouchi?" Anzu asked noticing that there was a calm silence between the three of them. Honda crawled over to her from off the ground and rubbed his back.  
  
"If you're not a, you know, then why do you dress like a boy?" Honda asked another stupid question.  
  
Anzu knocked him over again. "Please excuse my friend." Anzu apologized but noticed that Mesmori was gone. She looked around. Mesmori was standing next to Jounouchi.  
  
"Your friend is..." Mesmori asked Jounouchi.  
  
"Hai," he said, still not looking away from the duel. 'Yuugi...'  
  
Mesmori glared—that's right, she's actually mad for once—at the arena... 'It's you?'  
  
---  
  
'Look at the audience Yuugi...' Yami Yuugi heard something in his head. He scowled at Hell Umei, was she talking to him through telepathy?  
  
Hell Umei laughed. 'Look who is here Yuugi!'  
  
He heard it again. 'Are you able to do this? Are you able to talk to me through telepathy...' he thought, knowing she would hear him.  
  
'I have Umei to thank for that. She was born with a high ESP...'  
  
Yami Yuugi flinched a little at what he heard; Hell Umei could read his cards then!  
  
She continued, 'Unfortunately, I could read any opponent's cards if I wish, except when it comes to you... Your Millennium Item is blocking Umei's ESP...'  
  
Yami Yuugi felt as if a huge weight was lifted off his chest.  
  
'Now... Look who's cheering you on Yuugi...'  
  
He looked at the bridge. That weight now dropped on his foot with full force. Jounouchi, he is still here!  
  
'Won't this be interesting... Kill one of my monsters Yuugi, we can see if your friend Jounouchi will be the first to die... Order your monster to attack!' Hell Umei laughed maniacally. "Watch as your best friend is murdered before you!"  
  
Yami Yuugi thought about it for a while. On his side of the field were Elven Swordsman and Koumori Dragon. On Hell Umei's side of the field, there were Ancient Brain, Liquid Beast, and the Unknown Warrior of Fiend. Yami Yuugi leered as he looked back at Hell Umei. "I will... Koumori Dragon, abolish Ancient Brain!"  
  
The Koumori Dragon slashed at Ancient Brain, disintegrating him. Good thing she kept him in defense position, no life points were lost.  
  
Hell Umei arched her eyebrows.  
  
"Dark one inside Umei... You can bluff all you want... You were the one that told me that WHEN the ritual three cards are summoned on the field that's when what ever happens inside the arena, that's what happens to the outside." Yami Yuugi grinned, "Domineer of the Cards? Not at all what you're capable of..."  
  
"Hmm... I'm glad you listened." Hell Umei made a weak smile; she pulled a card from her deck. Her eyes widened for a moment. That was it! One piece of the unfinished puzzle! Snipper! "Perfect..."  
  
Yami Yuugi lost his grin.  
  
"I'll show you what I am capable of Yuugi..." Hell Umei hissed. 'But I won't play this card yet, no, I won't watch as he destroys one of my most valued monsters before I can create the ritual. Instead, I'll trick him with this monster.' Hell Umei looked at another card in her hand. She then looked at Jounouchi; he was staring at her as she stared back. "Yuugi..."  
  
Yami Yuugi crossed his arms.  
  
Hell Umei looked at him now, "Won't it be music to your ears as you hear the final agonizing screams of mercy before your friend's demise..." she sneered. "I know it will be to mine... Watching as his neck is snapped in half... Or his body being burned to death... Or maybe, his head being cut off by a rusty razor... Which one would you like Katsuya..."  
  
Jounouchi jumped at what she said. Mesmori on the other hand was popping pieces of her unfinished donut into her mouth.  
  
Jounouchi had chills roll up and down his spine; she was talking about him? How could she be that heartless, this couldn't be Umei...? The monsters are just holograms created by the arena... How could they lust for kill...?  
  
Yami Yuugi stood unmoved.  
  
"Don't you care at all... This may be the last time you see your cheerleader..." Hell Umei began her sinister laugh.  
  
Yami Yuugi stood emotionless, holding his position. He smirked and said: "Shut up and duel..."  
  
---  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
---  
  
That is the blissful girl, loved by all and dreamed by all. She's a girl who would do anything for, a girl who would protect you, a girl who would die for you. Does she have a care in the world? Many. But she doesn't worry about the way she looks, or how she acts. She doesn't worry about what others think of her, or if they think her strange. But there is something she does care about however. She lusts with a passion of loving those who would never love her back, yet she continues to be as exultant as ever. She may not ever be like that pretty girl over there, or that smart girl over there, but at least she is happy. And people love her because of that. That is the blissful girl, loved by all and dreamed by all... standing there with sparkling eyes. 


	4. Last Will Ritual Era of Djinn Day

~Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh; "A surprise. Where is this surprise?" Yami Yuugi interrogated.  
  
"It's like a miniature desert; nothing except dust and the granite box." Honda pointed out.  
  
"I didn't choose her, she chose me. The minute she grew hatred towards you Yuugi! That's when I was unleashed, I was harbored inside her very soul."  
  
"Let's say, if a monster is destroyed in this arena, some one will die, possibly even your friends." Hell Umei looked over to them, "Maybe even Honda, Jounouchi...Anzu..."  
  
Anzu quickly dodged four of the spikes but the last one impacted her right arm. It ripped through her shirtsleeve, "Gah!" she screamed in pain. The ball was now lodged in her skin as blood gushed out of it. She held her shoulder as she stooped on the dusty territory.  
  
"We'd be the only two out in that fog... Alone on that bridge..." Mesmori backed off. "How do I know if you won't try and—"  
  
"Don't you care at all... This may be the last time you see your cheerleader..." Hell Umei began her sinister laugh.  
  
Yami Yuugi stood emotionless, holding his position. He smirked and said: "Shut up and duel..."~  
  
-  
  
A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode Four: Last Will—The Ritual Era of the Day of the Djinns  
  
-  
  
"It's hopeless..." A young, fifteen-year old female stood by some crates of the crowded dock. She was holding her hands to her head as she shook her face back and forth.  
  
It was getting very late in the evening, she wouldn't even be out this late if she hadn't heard about the event that would take place at dawn. But how WOULD she ever get on that massive, white boat? One of the men in those black suits told her—very politely by the way—that the only way stepping an inch on that boat was by possessing at least one star chip—however, by the way, that same man also added that he could let her slide through the rules IF she met him in a hotel room in five minutes! The female quivered as she thought about what that man told her.  
  
"That... That... Deflowering Pedophile!" She stuttered peeved. She began shaking her head back and forth again. "If it wasn't for these REVEALING school uniforms the school system MAKES us WOMEN wear, maybe, JUST maybe, we would be treated more like people INSTEAD of some sex object!" The girl shouted frustrated—for once.  
  
Her voice emitted through the cool, night air. All heads turned to her. The female backed into the crates as at least a hundred people stared at her perplexed. They heard everything that came from her once courteous, diminutive voice. The women in the audience began to giggle as the men held their heads downward.  
  
The girl's steel blue eyes sparkled as she regained her balance. She began bowing her head over and over and kept repeating herself. "Gommen-nasai minna-san, Gommen-nasai minna-san, Gommen-nasai minna-san, Gommen-nasai minna-san!" The eyes finally turned away from her form.  
  
The female fell upon the crates again; very exhausted. She pulled the grayish colored hat from atop her shoulder length, chestnut hair. The female gazed at her petite cap for a while. She was the only one at East Domino High that wore the required hat—she never knew why no one would wear this hat, she thought it was rather classy. Of course, it did look as if you were a bellhop because of its small size and square-like top. The girl placed it back on her head as the wind began to pick up.  
  
"Oie!" she winced as she held her shoulders. The freezing wind kept coming at her, making her mahogany hair dance. "I knew I should've changed clothes before I came here!" She cried as she looked at her East Domino High uniform. Her short, gray skirt, ruffled by the breeze, almost flew up if she hadn't held it down. She left her left hand stapled to her skirt as she buttoned her outer gray, long sleeved blazer up; covering the inner white short-sleeved shirt she wore.  
  
"When will this wind stop!" The female whined as if on cue, the gale had ceased. "Arigato!" she gasped as her emerald green bow laced around her collar ceased its little samba with the gust as well. She held her head down.  
  
"I might as well go home." She murmured to herself, "I'll never catch up to Umei-sama now... The boat will set sail in a few minutes, and I'll be left here, cold and hopeless... as always..." the girl was almost at tears; how could not catching up with Umei Jopa Crawford make her cry? She should be hysteric that she won't be in the presence of THAT arrogant, stuck up juvenile!  
  
"Matouchi Mesmori..." a deep voice ringed in the girl's ears, as if an echo. A shadow loomed over her form as she looked up. Here eyes bulged.  
  
The carrier of the voice, a male obviously, was rather tall with broad shoulders. It was hard to make out what he wore because a dark, indigo robe covered his whole body; even his eyes were unrecognizable. The only thing the high school girl could make out was that she could only see his lips and part of his nose.  
  
"H-Hai?" her legs and voice trembled in harmony as she stood up, almost falling back down to the wooden crates.  
  
The man's robe rustled in another up coming wind, "... It hasn't been long, your face has become much more elegant from what I have remembered, at least you are looking more like a lady... Matouchi..." his voice left a trace of arrogance.  
  
"Nani?! Please tell me who you are?" Mesmori jumped back at his statement.  
  
"Since that fated day, I waited to have my retribution upon you... But alas... I shall not meddle with my master's plans... Matouchi..." the man's mahogany skin glimmered in the moonlight as he stepped forward.  
  
"Retribution? Punishment upon me! But, please tell me what did I do to you... I have never harmed anyone!" Mesmori's eyes sparkled.  
  
He stepped another foot towards Mesmori, inches away from her form, "If he didn't restrain me from killing you, I would do so... I have higher respect for authority... I don't know why I had that strange attraction towards you... Matouchi..." the man was talking in riddles and Mesmori could hardly understand him.  
  
"Attraction?" Mesmori didn't like where this was going. The man was so close to her that she could feel his dark lilac robe brush up against her legs. She edged back since there was a crate that stopped her from stepping back further; not at all a comfortable position for Mesmori.  
  
"I've noticed your predicament... Practically all your life from when you were merely ten, you have wanted to be in the good name of that American female... Matouchi..." He held his head upward, Mesmori could see his eyes now. Although they were still shadowed in darkness, she could make out that they were the color steel gray.  
  
His eyes kept piercing through her form as he began to chuckle lightly. "Now this dilemma has appeared before you and you won't be able to face your nemesis... What if I told you I could help you... Matouchi..."  
  
"Nani Nani!" Mesmori jumped at the thought of catching up to Umei, that is, if this figure was talking about Umei being that American girl. Even being as ecstatic as she was, she TRIED to keep her cool.  
  
"The ship's captain has fallen ill... The crew can't find the first, second, or third mate, all that is left is inexperienced amateurs that don't know a thing about steering a boat..."  
  
Mesmori looked at him confused. If she were positive at where he was coming at, wouldn't he think that she was an inexperienced amateur as well.  
  
"I have come to you, to give you a second chance at gracing my presence..." the man's voice grew low and threatening as he placed his hands on top of Mesmori's shoulders. She stood still puzzled. "Matouchi, you WILL confirm my proposition, if you choose to decline my offer, I will choose to defile you, once again."  
  
A faint gasp escaped Mesmori's lips, what did he mean by, once again?  
  
Taking his right hand from Mesmori's right shoulder, the man placed it into the opening of his robe and presented greenbacks all rolled up in a thin, white piece of tape. He held the currency before her face, "I want you to do something for me... Matouchi..."  
  
Mesmori shook his left hand from her shoulder and slid around him, she was directly behind him now. "Y-you know, jus-just because I-I-I wear a short skirt—that I would NEVER add to my regular day attire if it wasn't for school—doesn't mean I can be YOUR harlot." Mesmori stuttered her statement.  
  
The man turned around, directly staring at her. "N-Nani?" he stammered but still containing his sober aura.  
  
"Obviously you go both ways!" Mesmori's eyes sparkled as she looked very apprehensive. Her eyes enlarged as she backed away from him. "Not that there is anything wrong with that! You were looking for the captain and the shipmates to perform your bedding acts on! But unfortunately, they become ill and you are left to enticing a high school girl who is as big an inexperienced amateur as those other shipmates!" Mesmori paused but quickly regained her accusations.  
  
"Furthermore, I will not become your courtesan that you want to discharge your erotic positions on! Go find sexual perversion from some other call girl!" Mesmori finally was finished voicing her opinion.  
  
The robed man stood stunned, the currency fell from his hand to the ground. Obviously, Mesmori went a little overboard with her allegations. Why was it that every time someone of the opposite sex approached her that she would always believe he would want to ravish her... Well, she got that a lot for some reason.  
  
Suddenly, the robed man flipped-flopped on her. He seized her by her arms now and grew angry. "Baka! You evidently don't follow someone's words very well!" He growled but suddenly grew calm again, "I want you to steer that boat, I don't want to have intercourse with you... yet" he suddenly said quietly as if he was thinking his words.  
  
Mesmori was still a little bewildered. "Could've fooled me..." she gave a small smile, "Wait, did you add 'yet' to that sentence!" Mesmori struggled from his grasp.  
  
The man let her go, but, because she was struggling, she fell flat on her bottom. He tossed two shimmering pieces of metal at her. Star chips. She caught the metallic, yet painted gold pieces.  
  
"Catch..." he snapped as he threw a gauntlet at her. A duelist glove. Something fell out of the inside of the duelist glove. A laminated card with Mesmori's picture on it! The picture didn't look like Mesmori at all, it looked more like a beautiful super model, and Mesmori was no beautiful super model.  
  
"Um... Excuse me, but what do I need these for?" Mesmori asked dumbfounded.  
  
"Dumb-ass!" the man cursed below his breath, "It's hard to believe you can be intellectual at times... You need these items in order to enter the competition taking place at the island this boat is heading for. That card is your access card to manage the steering of the boat. Show it to that guard so he'll grant you permission." The robed man closed his eyes for a while but then blinked them open again. "That picture is something I drew myself, characterizes your true beauty, won't you say?"  
  
Mesmori looked at him as if he were crazy, even though it seemed like he was.  
  
The man coughed, "Now, ahem, place your star chips inside the slots of your duelist glove, pick up your payment and get out of my sight..."  
  
This was the only chance she got, she didn't want to sin herself and sneak onto the boat... But why did she have to become the ship's captain, hey it might just be fun.  
  
"Uh, arigatou?" Mesmori quickly grabbed the currency and stood back up. She turned to run towards the long line of people waiting to board the boat but was unexpectedly stopped by the robed man's words.  
  
"Matouchi... I want you to eliminate the duelist you are looking for... If you have chosen to become a failure at following my words this time, I certainly will abduct you..." he sneered at her, "You don't have a choice... Don't make me come after you again, you won't have that American girl to save you... Nezumi... Mi-Mi-Chan..."  
  
Mesmori's muscles tightened at what he called her. Only one person in her life time called her that! That name that meant mouse, Nezumi; Mi-Mi-Chan for short! This couldn't be that same guy who tried to...  
  
"I un-understand." She quickly blurted out and jogged away from him.  
  
The man turned back toward the crates, he was left in silence. A mischievous smirk appeared over his face. He began to laugh sinisterly as Mesmori hadn't noticed that he, was who she thought he was... That he, had blood stained over his left hand... That he, stashed the captain and the shipmates behind the crates... Bleeding to death...  
  
---  
  
"Hey, there's about six hundred thousand here!" Mesmori said aloud. She had obviously ripped the tape off the currency to count how much she had. But what would she want with so much money.  
  
Mesmori looked ahead of her, the line could go on for at least an hour. She didn't want to wait for an hour. A slight gust of wind blew by her; she shivered. Mesmori definitely wasn't going to wait for an hour in the cold, especially wearing such an uncomfortably short skirt. A notion popped into her head.  
  
"I know! I'll go home and get a few things, I also have to go tell my parents where I'll be for the next few days, I'll call East Domino High and tell them to send me my homework for the week since I won't be there, and while I'm at it, I can change these clothes. No more offerings for me today." Mesmori smiled at her well thought out plan. She looked around, since she was the last in line, she wouldn't lose her spot... Unless someone showed up in the next thirty minutes, but it wouldn't be a whole group so she still wouldn't have anything to lose.  
  
Mesmori jogged off for the main entrance of the docks with a smile on her face; finally, she was going to prove to Umei that she was not just some pathetic little girl that needed to hold someone's hand to cross the street.  
  
Before Mesmori left the dock, she noticed someone sitting up against one of the warehouses. An elderly man—dirty and tired—took up the space with a brown suitcase and his mangy St. Bernard puppy. As plain as day, this man was poor and homeless. He looked as if there was no hope for him, that he had lost everything in the world. The man's dog lay up against him with wandering eyes; he was very hungry. The suitcase was acting like a seat for the aged man as he cuddled his puppy and himself up with some wet newspaper.  
  
Mesmori walked up to the man, as she felt really sorry for him. Mesmori stood before him and gave him a slight smile as her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. She would become this man's savior. Mesmori reached her hand into her gray jacket pocket. At least this man wouldn't try to seduce her...  
  
---  
  
"I play the Hypnotic Water Dancer in defense position—" Hell Umei threw down her card without hesitating.  
  
"Do you end your turn." Yami Yuugi spoke with a trace of stubbornness in his voice. He did not like the fact that if he didn't defeat this dark one soon, she would have enough time to accomplish what ever she desired.  
  
"—Along with my turn, I sacrifice my two other monsters to bring forth the Hypnotic Dancer's special effect. Of course, by doing this, I pay five hundred life points." Hell Umei laughed maniacally. Her two monsters were sucked into the middle of the black void, they were gone. Hell Umei was getting into the game and going to the extremes...But so was Yami Yuugi.  
  
"You make such a costly move so early in the game..." Yami Yuugi pointed out, not caring at all what the special effect would be.  
  
On the field, the Water Dancer froze over; encased in that same old ice prism. The ice shattered, you know who was back. The blonde hair shimmered upon the female monster as her icy eyes stared downward on the Elven Swordsman. Rare Elven Ice Dancer: Attack-3000, Defense-2500  
  
Yami Yuugi broke from his calm aura, "Before, you said you can call upon your frost dancer only if your water elf had frozen over, there is no ice on this field, is that the Hypnotic Dancer's special effect..."  
  
"Exactly, when you sacrifice two monsters for your Hypnotic Dancer, her special effect is activated; no Arctic field card included. Unfortunately, when I use her special effect, my dancer is switched to defense position and can't attack the turn it has been activated." Hell Umei looked upon Yami Yuugi with glaring hot pink eyes. "Now... I am finished..."  
  
Yami Yuugi shrugged as he pulled two new cards. He looked over them for a moment. "I play Curse of the Six-Pointed Star to delay your Rare Elven Ice Dancer for another turn further." The circular spellbinding curse formed around the Rare Elven Ice Dancer, forcing her to be halted like Yami Yuugi had said.  
  
Jounouchi clenched his fist, "All right Yuugi! Kick her ass!"  
  
Yami Yuugi heard his best friend's cheer and gave a slight smirk towards Hell Umei. "Now... I am finished..." he ridiculed the same statement that Hell Umei said.  
  
"Bah!" the pink-eyed entity spat out, "Tarrying the inevitable, you degrading quip!" Hell Umei tried to keep her cool, how dare this rookie dawdle her plans of triumph. "No hence of mockery will befall me..." Hell Umei drew as many cards she needed to make five and glanced at them once.  
  
The hellish Umei quickly glanced at her cards again and began that provoking shriek of hers.  
  
Jounouchi was covering his ears as Yami Yuugi stood uneasy by her head- throbbing howl.  
  
"A card that sweeps the field clean of ANY magic or trap cards! Heavy Storm!" Hell Umei propped the magic card down on the counsel. A whirlwind of energy emerged from the center of the black mass on the field region. The skeletons that were once planted into the ground were now being tossed around among the breeze. The hexagram curse shattered.  
  
"Before I give you your pitiable turn, I place this card face down." Hell Umei sat a card in the Magic/Trap panels. "Come next turn, I'll annihilate your Elven Swordsman... There is only room for ONE elf on this field..." Hell Umei fanned herself with her cards.  
  
Yami Yuugi grunted at what had just happened. He had only been toying with her, drawing her out to observe what Hell Umei could do, he was finished being attentive. It was time to show her what he was all about. "You cannot underestimate me, dreaded one... How can you attack me, when you are delayed once again?"  
  
"Nani?! What trickery is this, cease the bewilderment act." Hell Umei closed her right eye and watched Yami Yuugi innocently.  
  
"There is no riddle here... I formulate the magic card, Swords that Seal the Darkness." The glowing sealing swords formed over the head of the Rare Elven Ice Dancer, she was stopped once again.  
  
"More of your insipid cessation acts..." Hell Umei spoke as if she didn't care. "Your swords will stop my elf, but they won't stop my Disk Magician." On her side of the field dawned Hell Umei's machine monster. Attack-1350, Defense-1000  
  
"Not only that, I equip my mage with this magic card, Mechanical Spinner!" A metallic casing appeared around the disk of which the Disk Magician emitted from. "Let me school you Yuugi, now that Mechanical Spinner has been added to my Magician, I'm afraid it boosts his attack by four hundred." Hell Umei bellowed. Disk Magician: Attack-1750, Defense-1000  
  
"Now Disk Magician!" Hell Umei announced with confidence dripping from her mouth, "Attack Koumori Dragon!" The mechanic magician did as it was commanded. He bolted his hands forward and the Koumori Dragon disintegrated. Hell Umei-1500, Yami Yuugi-1750  
  
Hell Umei grinned, even though she was behind by two hundred-fifty points.  
  
Now it was back to being Yami Yuugi's turn. A smirk emerged from the corners of his face as he drew a card from his deck. "I play my most valued card! Black Magician!" the magician in the dark colors emerged from the field. Black Magician: Attack-2500, Defense-2100  
  
"Black Magician, attack Disk Magician." Yami Yuugi ordered. The Black Magician held up his staff. Dark magic shot from the green orb and spiraled toward the Disk Magician. Suddenly, the Disk Magician was sucked into the metallic disk as the dark magic flew past him and disintegrated.  
  
"Nani?!" Yami Yuugi gasped.  
  
"Oops, didn't I tell you?" Hell Umei's raspy voice reverberated in sarcasm. "When Mechanical Spinner is FIRST played, the FIRST monster you summon and attack with after Mechanical Spinner is equipped, can not attack the monster it is equipped to following that turn. You can attack my Disk Magician next turn though, Yuugi..."  
  
Yami Yuugi glared at Hell Umei. It was true she had powerful cards, and it was true they were fighting on a field that gave her a home advantage, but Yami Yuugi knew something Hell Umei didn't. Hell Umei was fighting for the wrong causes, Yami Yuugi had his friends. So Much was riding on this duel; his friends, Umei's body, his Black Magician...  
  
"Hang in there Yuugi! You're still ahead, you always come back in the end!" Jounouchi edged on as Mesmori stared at him.  
  
"Ahead?" Hell Umei began to bellow. "All that is going to change! Since it is my turn, let me reveal my face down card from before." Yami Yuugi's eyes widened as he looked towards her. "It's a magic card..." Hell Umei smiled at Yami Yuugi as she explained what it could do. "Red Medicine, it increases MY lifepoints. No, not by two hundred, not by three hundred, but, five hundred points!" Hell Umei: 2000, Yami Yuugi: 1750  
  
"Kisama!" Jounouchi cursed under his breath.  
  
"Now who's ahead!" Hell Umei grimaced. "And soon, MY elf dancer will be free come next turn, you can't imagine what I have in store for you..."  
  
'Hard to believe, but Umei's deck is very well constructed... Although Umei's heart might have went into her deck, this dark one's black heart has not... Whatever method this hellish soul uses, the strength of fate won't be recognized...' Yami Yuugi thought with a pensive look.  
  
"That is such a magnificent philosophy you're thinking... Yet, very pathetic! Hurry up and finish your turn so I can execute what I have been waiting for!" Hell Umei laughed, reading his every thought.  
  
Yami Yuugi drew a card and faced Hell Umei with a penetrating gaze. "There is a difference between you and me... Dark one... We both are fighting for something we truly, TRULY, desire... We are both entities from our respected items... But there is a consequential thing that separates us..."  
  
"Per se?!" Hell Umei's eyebrows twitched.  
  
That elfish smirk of Yami Yuugi's painted over his face; making him seem very suspicious, yet very alluring in a way. "You are impatient..."  
  
"N-Nani?" Hell Umei was being ridiculed again, by this... By this... Enticing Playboy!  
  
That attractive grin of his grew wider, his face looking more maniacal then arousing. "Let me assist you in becoming more patient, dark one... I play Black Magical Silk Hats!" The four black hats with the yellow, question mark buckles floated over Yami Yuugi's Black Magician and Elven Swordsman. The four hats fell on them and began shuffling around on Yami Yuugi's side of the field. The raving smirk of Yami Yuugi's grew seductive again.  
  
"You think you're pretty arrogant, don't you..." Hell Umei's raspy tone shown with no appeal. "Whoever... Whoever the HELL you think you are, You will not trifle with me! I did not come this far to be fucked in the head with!" there's that little impatient wench as we know her!  
  
"Eh, very pissy isn't she," Jounouchi snickered into Mesmori's ear, "Must be that time of the month." He began to chuckle.  
  
"Oh my!" Mesmori gasped shocked holding her hands clutched up to her chin. "And right during a duel of all places!" her eyes sparkled in concern. "I may have something for her, always come prepared." Mesmori began looking through her junky, oversized jacket pockets.  
  
Focusing back on the duel, and not other things that are conjured up from a high school boy's head whenever a girl is ticked off, Yami Yuugi still stood unmoved by Hell Umei's words.  
  
"Your turn... Dark one..." he rested his hands on the sides of his counsel. "The fact that you only have a twenty-five percent chance yet a fifty percent chance at hitting one of my two monsters each turn you use, by then, I will have already found a way to beat you..." He closed his eyes. "Does it make you even more restless?"  
  
Hell Umei tried to ignore Yami Yuugi as she drew a card. Her eyes bulged in a startle. A more demented sneer grew over her face now. The next of the layers to Hell Umei's meringue cake, so to speak. All she was using her Elven Ice Dancer was just to stall Yami Yuugi, but now, with Snipper and SUN'S RAYS, there was only one more left in her deck.  
  
Now it was Hell Umei's turn to give Yami Yuugi a psychotic smile as her fangs shown. "I will always be one step closer to calling upon the holy grounds of my demise..." Hell Umei murmured.  
  
"..." Yami Yuugi finally opened his eyes; those deep purple eyes would make anyone become overly suspicious the way they were looking towards Hell Umei. But she didn't grow nervous; instead, she began to chuckle lightly to herself.  
  
Hell Umei coughed, "Ahem, anyway..." she couldn't stop laughing to finish her sentence.  
  
"There's nothing funny about this duel!" Jounouchi shouted from the sidelines rather choleric.  
  
Hell Umei held her right hand in Jounouchi's direction; she didn't even look towards him because she couldn't stop cackling. She clenched her hands.  
  
The granite sphere lodged in Anzu's arm began to shock her with that same dark energy.  
  
"Gah!" Anzu screamed in pain.  
  
Jounouchi and Mesmori turned towards Anzu and Honda.  
  
"Chikushoume!" Jounouchi cursed.  
  
"What in the world?" Mesmori held her hands to her face and covered her eyes.  
  
"Anzu!" Honda quickly grabbed at the sphere; it began electrocuting him too. "Shimatto!"  
  
Yami Yuugi's head snapped towards his friend. His eyes widened, but then, with lightning speed, his head snapped back towards Hell Umei. "Enough! Stop it now!"  
  
The dark, static energy halted. Anzu fell back with sweat dotted over her face. Honda was there to catch her. Anzu's breathing was sharp and loose, making Yami Yuugi even angrier.  
  
"Someone tell me—What the HELL was that!" Jounouchi shouted bemused. Jounouchi suddenly noticed that Mesmori had abandoned her spot next to him and was praying besides Anzu.  
  
"Don't talk to a Sovereign like that, next time I will kill her..." Hell Umei ceased her laughing spree. She turned toward the infuriated Yami Yuugi. "Keep your inu in line..."  
  
"Inu!" Jounouchi grew hotheaded; no way did she just call him that. He could tolerate being called 'cheerleader' but not what she just called him. "You're the inu! You Subeta!"  
  
Hell Umei canceled out Jounouchi's words. "I could've killed you're cheerleader, but why not wait until it is the perfect time. Are you impatient now? Waiting to see what I have in store for you?" Hell Umei was talking as if there was a sort of sadness to her voice. "Since it still is my turn, I play this magic card..."  
  
On the field stood a hooded figure in a grain colored cape.  
  
Yami Yuugi didn't say anything, he just stood, mesmerized by the presence of his friends.  
  
"The name of this magic card is Joker Tiger..." as soon as Hell Umei said the name of this card, the figure threw the hood off of his head portraying the face of the tiger. Yes indeed, the face of a tiger but the eyes were in red swirls.  
  
Yami Yuugi finally looked back at Hell Umei, eyes burning with fury. He could never come to exile someone, nor even hate someone to an extent; he had Yuugi to thank for that. It was never a person's fault that they acted upon being hated, only the things they were influenced by. This dark entity was once a person... long ago...  
  
"Watch and see what Joker Tiger desires..." a grin grew over the face of her magic card, it actually pointed towards Umei's Rare Elven Ice Dancer. "Oh, I see." Hell Umei smirked, "You want to perform that move that you did to that gray-haired boy..."  
  
"Hm?" A sound finally came from Yami Yuugi.  
  
"To tell you the truth, this is Umei's trademark move, I have become quite fond of her strategy for this move." Hell Umei pointed towards HER Ice Dancer. "Now, perform your trick." As Hell Umei demanded, the Tiger in the cape threw two poker cards onto the ground. The two cards revealed that it was the six of clubs and the five of hearts. The cards poofed into a ball of smoke that then surrounded the Elven Ice dancer in a mist—unable to be seen to any other eye.  
  
"What kind of magic card is this?" Yami Yuugi asked, focusing back on the duel.  
  
"The Joker Tiger card is able to convert any card it desires, for better or worse." Hell Umei seemed to be joking with Yami Yuugi.  
  
"Enlighten!"  
  
"You see, MY tiger will throw down two playing cards each turn for a monster of its choice, which will be my Ice Dancer each turn. It will increase the dancer's attack by the two cards subtracted by each other. The only way this Joker Tiger card will be sent to the graveyard is by throwing down a joker card in one of the two card draw and, when that happens, it will take a monster of my choice on either side of the field with it to the Graveyard." The way Hell Umei explained it could confuse anyone.  
  
"What's happening to your Ice dancer now?" Yami Yuugi asked puzzled.  
  
"The first time the Joker Tiger card plays two cards for the FIRST time on a monster, the monster will be split into the product of both the two cards added together. Let me introduce you to the Rare Eleven Ice Dancers!" Hell Umei laughed.  
  
The smoke disappeared to show the silliest bunch of little monsters. There WERE eleven tiny versions of Umei's Ice Dancer all stacked up on each other. The one on the very top was holding a dark blue cape that extended all the way to one of the other the tiny Ice Dancers on the very bottom.  
  
"You're cheating!" Jounouchi was at it again, yelling 'out of line'. "There can be no more then five monsters on the field!"  
  
Hell Umei looked at Jounouchi.  
  
"Jounouchi!" Yami Yuugi's voice grew strict, trying to warn his friend.  
  
"Not when fused..." Hell Umei clarified, "You see, when two monsters are fused together because of a polymerization card, there are still two monsters that can stand upon one slot of the arena. They just become one with each other."  
  
"So..." Jounouchi said unshaken.  
  
"Therefore, my ice dancers have become in tune with each other, making them one monster." Hell Umei turned back toward Yami Yuugi, "Unfortunately, my chibi ice dancers' attack is cut in half, but that can be made up for with my Joker Tiger." The Rare Eleven Ice Dancers-Attack: 1500, Defense: 2500  
  
"I see..." Jounouchi mumbled wishing Hell Umei did violate the rules so this duel would be over with.  
  
"Now, my little army, attack the hat farthest to the right!" Hell Umei ordered. The Ice Dancer on the very bottom began walking over to the silk hat farthest to the right—of course leading all the other elves that stood on its shoulders. They all punched at the hat with their right hands, revealing that there was nothing under that hat. Three left to go.  
  
"How kawaii!" Mesmori smiled, obviously thinking the scene was comical and entertaining—Mesmori was standing back beside Jounouchi, evidently she forgot about what happened to Anzu.  
  
Now being Yuugi's turn again, a thought popped into his head. "I expose my Black Magician." Yami Yuugi announced as his Black Magician jumped from the silk hat farthest on the left. "Now that your Eleven Ice Dancers are weaker, I can now attack you head on." Yami Yuugi's Black Magician shot dark magic from his green orb once again. But, instead of just hitting all the Ice Dancers, one of them jumped towards the beam of energy. It disintegrated, now leaving ten. Hell Umei: 1863, Yami Yuugi: 1750  
  
Hell Umei stood with a smile, "That's right Yuugi, you can only attack one at a time. Unfortunately, for every one of them you vanquish, their attack goes up by one hundred thirty-seven points, and my life points go down by one hundred thirty-seven points each time you destroy one of my dancers. Rare Eleven Ice Dancers-Attack: 1637, Defense: 2500  
  
"What a pathetic turn you've lost! Since you placed your Black Magician from the safety of the third hat, now there is only a fifty percent chance of hitting the Elven Swordsman." Hell Umei drew a card. 'This is not the card I need, just Rock Assassin.' Hell Umei looked over the cards in her hand: Snipper, Sun's Rays, Sword of Dark Destruction, Dark Elf, and Rock Assassin.  
  
'I can't attack with Dark Elf or I would have to pay one thousand of my life points.' Hell Umei read the card description; 'I could however equip Sword of Dark Destruction to my Rock Assassin since it is a dark type monster.' Hell Umei looked back up from her cards. 'I need to get rid of as many cards as possible so I can come closer to drawing my last card for the ritual...'  
  
"For my turn, I play Rock Assassin..." Hell Umei quickly threw down the card. A tall man like being emerged with rock pieces attached to his appendages onto the field. Rock Assassin-Attack: 600, Defense: 300  
  
Yami Yuugi's eyebrows arched.  
  
"Since the Rock Assassin is a dark type monster, I can equip this Magic card, Sword of Dark Destruction, to it to raise its attack by four hundred and lower its defense by two hundred." Hell Umei declared with decisiveness. The sword of dark energy appeared into the hands of the assassin of stone as an egotistical grin lingered on Hell Umei's face. Rock Assassin-Attack: 1000, Defense: 100  
  
"A costly move..." Yami Yuugi admonished even though every time Hell Umei made a move that seemed so inexperienced, there was always a twist.  
  
Then, Hell Umei said something Yami Yuugi thought he would never hear escape her mouth, "Correct..." the dark one made a comical expression; right eye closed with her tongue sticking out. "Rare Eleven Ice Dancers, attack the left hat!" Hell Umei commanded her army.  
  
This time, the ten little warriors created their own little life-sized pyramid of themselves; each standing on each other's shoulders in the process. With one standing at the very top, it was almost as if they were miniature cheerleaders... With elf ears... And more revealing clothing...  
  
The one at the top began screeching like a banshee as the others did the same. They opened their arms and a yellowish ball of energy formed in the center. It shot towards the left hat... Nothing!  
  
"Chikuso!" Hell Umei cursed under her breath but decided to brush off the mishap. The last black hat shifted off the arena, revealing truly where the Elven Swordsman was. "Now that my command is over, Joker Tiger draws two new cards to enhance my Rare Eleven Ice Dancers.  
  
The Tiger with the outrageous eyes reached into the left side of his robe with his right hand and threw two cards, the Four of Spades and the Two of Clubs. The cards 'poofed' once again into that misty smog and floated over all ten of the ice dancers.  
  
"Now their attack increases by two hundred points." Hell Umei smiled at the brilliant strategy her pitiful host conjured up. The smoke cleared. Rare Eleven Ice Dancers-Attack: 1837, Defense: 2500  
  
'If I attack her Rock Assassin or her Disk Magician instead of her ice dancers I won't have to worry about them getting stronger twice in one turn because of my monsters attacking them and that Joker Tiger.' Yami Yuugi closed his eyes as he grew deeper in thought.  
  
Hell Umei's pink irises shrunk in size from what she heard Yami Yuugi think.  
  
"Black Magician attack the Disk Magician." Yami Yuugi extended his right hand forward. The Black Magician fired another shot of dark magic that hurled towards the Disk Magician. Suddenly, the beam was halted by one of Hell Umei's ice dancers. One of them had jumped in the way of the dark energy. Rare Eleven Ice Dancers-Attack: 1974, Defense: 2500  
  
"Nani?" Yami Yuugi stood bewildered.  
  
"Hm? Surprised, my playboy?" Hell Umei jeered, "Every time you attack one of my monsters instead of my Eleven Ice Dancers, they will still sacrifice their life by taking the shot head on..." Hell Umei: 1726, Yami Yuugi: 1750  
  
"This is a well thought out strategy... Amazing how someone could think of it... I'm impressed..." Yami Yuugi stood unnerved again. "But, every strategy has a fault..."  
  
"Not this one..." Hell Umei crossed her arms as that confident grin painted over her face again.  
  
"This is crazy..." Jounouchi mumbled.  
  
"Go Jou-sama's friend!" Mesmori cheered as she held her hands up to her chin as if she were praying.  
  
"Jou-sama!" Jounouchi shouted into Mesmori's ear.  
  
"Fine, Jou-sempai." Mesmori's eyes sparkled.  
  
"I'm coming closer to finding that fault." Yami Yuugi spoke, penetrating Jounouchi and Mesmori's conversation.  
  
Now being Hell Umei's turn once again, she could draw two new cards.  
  
"You're friends talk to much..." Hell Umei spoke as she placed her hand to the side of her deck. "If I could, I would rip their vocal cords out... but then there would be no room for entertainment when my ritual is summoned..." she threatened as she placed her hand above her deck now.  
  
"How can someone harbor so much hatred..." Yami Yuugi grew angry. "Is it because there was no one ever there to encourage you? Is that why you grew a heart of jealousy and malevolence? Is that why you chose Umei... Because her heart of jealousy and malice was equal to yours that night?"  
  
Hell Umei drew one card... Fusion card, Resurrect Dead. "I told you, I chose her because she wanted me." Before Hell Umei drew her next card, she placed her hands on the counsel and her eyelids lowered a little. "Her heart was weak, easy for me to control. All these centuries... Every dimension I've been to... I never found such an easy mark... such a slave like Umei. You should see the corners of her mind, all the memories. She is like a walnut... Not at all what you expect on the inside." The raspy tone of hers grew softer, "To be honest with you, a microscopic part of me doesn't want to hurt this girl... Yet, it is only a microscopic part..." Hell Umei placed her hand over her deck ready to draw her next card.  
  
Amazing, Hell Umei just opened up to Yami Yuugi, something Yami Yuugi thought could never happen from an enemy. "You seem almost human, why drive yourself to cause pain just for a selfish act..."  
  
"If you look at it, everything is selfish, everyone is selfish... But Umei... She—" Hell Umei stopped herself as her eyes bulged. She stared at the card she drew... That was IT! The last card for the ritual! Forest Guardian! Hell Umei almost lost her breath as her dark heart throbbed with pain. Finally, this duel, and this world, would be over soon. But did she really want to do this ritual? She lightened up to Yami Yuugi, she expressed too much emotion towards him. All a lie! Yami Yuugi, that alluring bastard! Hell Umei couldn't fall for his deadly eyes.  
  
"..." Yami Yuugi stood puzzled noticing that Hell Umei didn't finish her statement, he also noticed how her eyes grew into saucers as she stared down that card in her hand.  
  
A gasp of air escaped Hell Umei's mouth. There were three monsters on her side of the field, she needed to get rid of one in order to bring all three cards for the ritual out.  
  
"What about Umei?" Yami Yuugi wanted to know why Hell Umei ceased her sentence.  
  
"Forget that wench!" Hell Umei spat out, her psychotic smirk appeared over her face. "You have been very desirable, does seductive eyes of yours can cause ANYONE to fall to your mercy. But my eyes show something more then yours! They show the souls of my hosts! If you desire Umei's life, why not the others that have souls within me! None will ever find peace or crossover... Unless you dismember and cut my eyes in half!"  
  
Everyone, even Mesmori, stood a little disturbed from what Hell Umei was saying. It was official; Hell Umei had gone insane from sure triumph because of her three ritual cards.  
  
"Rare Eleven Ice Dancers, attack the Elven Swordsman." Hell Umei ordered, her head back on her duel. The nine little soldiers were back to standing one by one on each other's shoulders. Now, they began to twirl around, causing a tornado of nothing but blue destruction. They sucked the Elven Swordsman in and he was demolished. Hell Umei: 1726, Yami Yuugi: 1176  
  
Yami Yuugi was still shocked from what Hell Umei had said about her eyes.  
  
"I told you... there is only room for one elf on this field..." Hell Umei's eyes narrowed as she began to chuckle, "In this case, only room for one elf on one owner's side of the field."  
  
The Joker Tiger took both of his hands and reached into his ears. He pulled two cards and threw them to the middle of the arena... Five of Diamonds and Three of Diamonds!  
  
"Kuso!" Hell Umei slammed the counsel with her right fist. She calmed down, "At least my little nine warriors attack goes up by two hundred points..." Rare Eleven Ice Dancers-Attack: 2174, Defense: 2500  
  
Yami Yuugi stared at the cards in his hand, "I... Place my Summoned Demon in attack position!" Yami Yuugi place his demon summon on the field. The skeleton-like demon brought out his mighty blue wings and they began to flap. Summoned Demon-Attack: 2500, Defense: 1200  
  
With no other monsters to attack, Yami Yuugi had to always destroy Hell Umei's dancers each turn. "Attack one of the Rare Eleven Ice Dancers!" The Summoned Demon did as it was told. A bright electrical ball hurled towards the little stack of dancers. One jumped up as usual, and only one was destroyed as usual. Rare Eleven Ice Dancers-Attack: 2311, Defense: 2500  
  
"And then there were eight..." Hell Umei was tapping on the counsel with her right hand. Hell Umei: 1589, Yami Yuugi: 1176  
  
'She doesn't care? She'll sacrifice as many she wants in order to get attack points higher then both my monsters...' Yami Yuugi shook his head back and forth.  
  
'Why should I care?' Hell Umei broke through his thoughts again.  
  
'You are a monster...' Yami Yuugi held his head down.  
  
"I don't care what you see me as, Yuugi... As long as I know what is about to happen to your friends, I could care less anymore..." Hell Umei stared at Jounouchi now. "Being my turn, I place my eight little minions in defense mode." The ice dancer on the very bottom that held the stack of other ice dancers up by its shoulders kneeled on the ground. The other dancers did the same as the ice dancer on the very top held out the long dark blue cloak and wrapped it around the whole stack. A blue cocoon.  
  
Hell Umei turned back to Yami Yuugi, "I end my turn by placing this card face down in defense position..." Hell Umei announced, placing down one of her three cards needed for the ritual.  
  
The Joker Tiger placed his covered hands to the sides of his face and pulled off his head.  
  
"Oie!" Mesmori and Jounouchi gasped in unison as they were both holding onto each other from the scene.  
  
Two cards flew from the insides of the Joker Tiger's body and dashed to the center of the field. Hell Umei finally stopped tapping on the counsel. On the field, a Two of Hearts and a Joker card!  
  
Yami Yuugi smirked, finally this card will be annihilated and Hell Umei's dancers won't grow any stronger.  
  
"As my Joker Tiger is sent to the graveyard, I have chosen for him to take Rock Assassin with him..." Hell Umei said with a lowered head, unable to see her eyes.  
  
The Joker Tiger was pulled to the center of the field. As the skeletons grasped hold of him and pulled him down, the Joker Tiger's hand extended and grasped the Rock Assassin, bringing him to his demise too. Hell Umei: 589, Yami Yuugi: 1176  
  
A perplexed look flew over Yami Yuugi's face.  
  
"Yes Yuugi, the number of attack points from my monster are deducted from my life points when the Joker Tiger is destroyed and takes a monster with it..." Hell Umei still stood with unseen eyes.  
  
'Her deck may be formidable, but all these cards... This dark one, or should I say Umei, would annihilate herself before the opponent in a duel...' Yami Yuugi drove his head from the arena and to the water crashing on the peak below him.  
  
'Your turn Yuugi...' Hell Umei broke through his thoughts, but her voice did not sound threatening or filled with hate. Something peculiar was going through Hell Umei's head.  
  
Yami Yuugi didn't look back at the arena, "How can you be so damn calm!" he quickly spat out without thinking. "I want an honorable duel, I set my own path and find my OWN way to beat my opponent, not having an opponent beat themselves!" Yami Yuugi finally looked back at Hell Umei. "You boast about defeating me, but you defeat yourself... Every duel is an honor... Does this duel mean nothing to—"  
  
Yami Yuugi stopped himself as he noticed a dark smog flush over the eight ice dancers. As they were engulfed in the smoke, Hell Umei finally looked up at Yami Yuugi with a maniacal smile. The smoke cleared, and there, stood the Rare Elven Ice Dancer again. Rare Elven Ice Dancer-Attack: 3000, Defense: 2500  
  
Yami Yuugi's eyes widened as he was left agape.  
  
"Know this," Hell Umei's profound silence ceased, "since Joker Tiger has been sent to the graveyard, the monster he was enhancing goes back to its regular form before Joker Tiger was ever played!" Hell Umei shouted. "An expensive move, but good enough to destroy your remaining life points, ne? How honorable is that!"  
  
"..." Yami Yuugi glanced away and then back at Hell Umei. "My Black Magician, attack the Disk Magician!" The skeleton monster did as it was told and a dark mass of electricity shot towards the magician. The Disk Magician spun about as its last action to live on. It disintegrated. Yami Yuugi began to laugh as he saw eight hundred and fifty life points get taken away from Hell Umie's five hundred and eighty-nine. Hell Umei: 0, Yami Yuugi: 1176  
  
"Your planning has fai—uh!" Yami Yuugi gasped in mid-sentence as he saw the life point meter on Hell Umei's side go up. Hell Umei: 700, Yami Yuugi: 1176  
  
"Arigatou, Yuugi!" Hell Umei sneered. Her eyes grew large as she stared at the sky and began to bellow in hysteria. "When the monster equipped with Mechanical Spinner is destroyed, the user gains seven hundred! Wahahaha! You really thought you had a glimmer of hope! Of faith!"  
  
Yami Yuugi clenched his fists. "You should clarify a magic card's special abilities before hand, you vile cheater...." His teeth bit his lip as he began to wonder what Hell Umei's ploy was.  
  
"Now that it is my turn! My turn! The end of this abominable world is at hand! My ultimate turn now embarked!" Hell Umei took three cards from her hand and threw two on her monster panel face-up and the other face-up on the magic/trap panel. She then switched her facedown card from before face- up now. "Yuugi..." Hell Umei's hot pink eyes shimmered, "Meet Sun's Rays, Forest Guardian, and Snipper.... The three ritual cards!"  
  
Everyone in the scene, besides Hell Umei of course, stood unsteady with intense eyes and gaping mouths. In the shape of a cube was Snipper, a flaming bird bunched up in a square shape and with midget talons. In the shape of a cylinder was Forest Guardian, an extremely beautiful, pale, and bare woman with pale green hair and closed eyes, hovering on her stomach. And finally, in the shape of a pyramid was Sun's Rays, a shinning, golden light in the form of a triangle. Each monster had something special however embedded in them. Snipper had a blade gripped in its beak, Forest Guardian had an elegant mirror engraved in her forehead, and Sun's Rays had a sphere resembling a crystal ball at the heart of its lightened mass.  
  
"Along with the fusion card from before, Resurrect Dead, I am able to form my monsters to one!" Hell Umei could not stop her riot of laughter as dark energies formed around her three ritual cards. The skeletons on the field began to sink into the ground as the field began to rumble. No, not just the field, but the entire area did as well. Streaks of lightning shot through the sky as the water below the flattened peak began to evaporate. The entire ocean was gone! The sea life jumped for life and reefs and coral were seen clearly. Ball's of fire were seen off in the distance as they surrounded Duelist Kingdom.  
  
"Ah, the sky at its darkest, blacker than the blackest heart, colder than the coldest intentions..." Hell Umei's insane look traced over Yami Yuugi. "Well, Yuugi... brace yourself."  
  
"Wha?!" Yami Yuugi couldn't stand because of the shaking all over the area let alone listen to Hell Umei's words. The battle ring began to break apart and crumble while the duelist platforms remained unchanged. Once the shaking had ceased, everyone was able to realize his or her surroundings. The world resembled a little bit of Egypt and a lot of a bit of hell. The ring, however, resembled a torture bed above quicksand. The now steal battlefield was chained up by bloody, rusty spears with decapitated bodies piercing through them in different positions.  
  
"Egh!" Jounouchi and Honda gasped upon the scene. Anzu closed her eyes and did not want to see anymore. Mesmori, on the other hand, was tossing her lunch off the side of the metal bridge.  
  
Yami Yuugi glared at Hell Umei. "What have you done!"  
  
"The ritual has been made! Now the killing can commence! It must it must! Meet my indestructible Enmako!" Hell Umei began to bang the counsel and howl in triumph.  
  
"Will she ever shad up that yap!" Jounouchi started smacking his head with his own hand.  
  
"Why would you want her to shut up?" Mesmori started to itch her head as she appeared beside Jounouchi.  
  
"You are so stupid... Baka." Jounouchi murmured.  
  
The monster that stood side by side with the Rare Elven Ice Dancer was a grotesque beast not fit to be called a monster! There was no name for how hideous this creature looked. Only the head was seen from the shadow that surrounded it—a mutilated head able to make the ugliest of nightmare creatures run scared. It was so ugly that it was beautiful. With one blood- shot eye and the other hanging from it's socket by the vein, with one ear shaped disgustingly and the other ripped down the seam of it being attached, how could three pleasing monsters become something so putrid? Five steel bolts were punctured into the head of the beast's dark crimson skin. White strands of three hairs stuck from the lumpy forehead along with the bolts. Under the scrunched nose was a dingy cloth restrained over the mouth. Enmako- Attack: 3500, Defense: 4000  
  
"Let death begin... My turn... But before I can do so, Enmako must first feed on one of my monsters in order to be active! I give him the Rare Elven Ice Dancer!" Hell Umei's maniacal grin did not falter yet her voice got louder and more annoying. A smog wrapped around the Rare Elven Ice Dancer who was now crying for mercy as she was sucked into the pit of Enmako's soul. "Now, my gorgeous Enmako! Attack either monster you see fit, three more souls must be vanquished from this world in order to infect the other THREE carriers..."  
  
"THREE!" Yami Yuugi grunted; there were three more of a hellish entity living inside three other victims?! This could not be taken lightly anymore.  
  
A gulf of steam seeped through Enmako's woolen mask. From the shadows spewed the darkest color of blood you could have ever seen—pools and pools of it spilled to the battle floor as pools and pools of Mesmori's guts spilled to the waterless ocean. A glowing orb fell from the shadow to the floor and was covered in the mucus. The orb was the same as Sun's Rays crystal ball. The orb rolled towards the Summoned Demon and exploded. Parts of the demon's appendages flung every which way and remained on the field bleeding. Hell Umei: 700, Yami Yuugi: 176  
  
A whirl in the sky began to form as a flashing light fell from the center of it and onto the field. "Hm, who will die by ripped limbs?" Hell Umei growled. A flaming black skull engulfed in lilac fire emerged from the "dead" Summoned Demon and off towards the island.  
  
"Chikuso! No one in your presence...." The vile entity smashed the panel with enough force to crack it. The scene grew dim as the orb rolled back towards the darkness and the Summoned Demon's dismembered body remained on the field.  
  
---  
  
"Help!" a man shrieked from the outside of Pegasus's castle.  
  
Pegasus stood by the ten-foot window staring unmoved at the duelist calling to him.  
  
"... Master Crawford..." one of Pegasus' suited guards ran behind him and bowed—he was very appealing. "We are to having crime scene."  
  
Pegasus hunched his hands over the windowsill.  
  
"Shall I be summoning medics just in case, if this gets out then this could be giving Duelist Kingdom a bad name if the other authorities is to be visiting." the guard removed the sunglasses from his yellow eyes and ran his hands through his hacked, pale blonde hair. He spoke in loose Japanese for his German accent would always get the best of him.  
  
"You've been like a brother to me, Schwarz Wolfram-kun... But the medics or the authorities will not be needed..."  
  
"Ja, Master Crawford." He bowed and wiped a drop of sweat from his tan skin.  
  
"Help!" the man finally ran off in a different direction seeking assistance.  
  
"Hmm..." Pegasus sighed. "Jopa-chan has hid my second wife's secret from me in the most unlikely place. Her own grave. Now she has reactivated it once again... Such a smart little vixen I have raised and that YOU've corrupted my dear..."  
  
"Uh, sir?" Wolfram looked at the back of Pegasus's form a little puzzled.  
  
"It is not Umei that is dueling Yuugi boy. Yuugi must figure out the true power of the battle arena he is dueling on... Schwarz-kun, prepare the guards to retrieve a metallic box on a peak off of Duelist Kingdom." Pegasus turned.  
  
"The b-body—Wie? Warum? What about the body, Master Crawford?" the twenty- five year old man stuttered.  
  
"Never mind it, the victim will rise as if nothing had happened very soon."  
  
"Ja, Master Crawford." Wolfram jetted out of the dinning room.  
  
Pegasus turned back to the window and peered outside, he peered at the sixteen-year old girl, he peered at her mangled body as if a bomb had exploded inside of her, he peered at the East Domino High school uniform she had been wearing.  
  
---  
  
"You can always forfeit... if you are frightened now? In one more turn this will all be over." Hell Umei tapped her fingers on the counsel with her demented smirk painted over her countenance.  
  
"Why should I? Why should I let you get the satisfaction of killing everyone instead of just a few?" Yami Yuugi huffed.  
  
"So you admit that your friends are not as important as all of mankind?! You aren't as selfish as I thought! Yet you'll lose either way and I will claim all in the end either way!"  
  
"Selfish? You do not understand.... My friends are JUST as important as all of mankind!"  
  
"Finish your foolish turn..."  
  
"There has to be something behind this curse?!" Yami Yuugi began to mumble.  
  
"Nani! What did you say! Heh! Getting smart are you?! Speak your strategies out loud but so quiet that I can no longer hear them nor read them!" Hell Umei bellowed.  
  
"Come on Yuugi!" Jounouchi screamed so loud that it rivaled Hell Umei's shriek.  
  
"Don't worry, your friend is about to win..." Mesmori's eyes sparkled as she said seriously.  
  
"Nani!" the entire group gasped at what Mesmori had said. "Are you psychic!" they said in harmony once again.  
  
"Nani?" Mesmori asked clueless. "Well duh, your friend will win, it's common sense, I mean, look at the life points! Plus, I just wanna liven up the certain outcome." The group sighed.  
  
"I need one more turn." Yami Yuugi murmured. "I place Black Magician in defense mode and this card facedown!" A monster in the attack slot and a magic card in the magic/trap slot were now on Yami Yuugi's side of the field.  
  
"Is this your brilliant plan? Your last resort?!" Hell Umei snickered. "Very well, Enmako! You know what needs to be done..." This time, from every opening on Enmako's face, larvae of worms and flies and scorpions and scarabs spewed out and blended with the drying blood below him. Along with the grim things that were expelled, a mirror resembling that on the forehead of the Forest Guardian emerged. The mirror shot towards the Black Magician and began to expand over him. The mirror formed around the magician, freezing him over. The Black Magician was no longer able to be played and was now dead in its encasement.  
  
"Don't you admire how you juggle a life of your monster, now that they are of REALITY! You magician has frozen to death and occupies that space, unable to be played from now on." Hell Umei bellowed. "Don't forget, no matter if the monster is in defense or not, a life is still taken when that monster is killed!" As if on cue, the whirl returned in the sky and the beam of light shot over the field once again. The black skull in purple fire emerged. This time, it was swarming the peak.  
  
"HAI! Finally a life of your friends will be taken! Who do you chose who do you chose!" Hell Umei jumped up and down. The skull bolted forward towards the defenseless foursome. Honda's eyes bulged as he gasped for air.  
  
A dark light flashed as the skull went inside its victim like a gunshot. The easy mark fell towards their deathbed with rolling eyes as they closed. To the deep, dark world of the new hell, another casualty lost.  
  
"Iie!" Yami Yuugi lost his own breath as he couldn't believe his eyes, of all people... why did the skull chose one of his friends, let alone THAT friend!  
  
"Perfect..." Hell Umei's hysterical laugh broke through the drama as her vein bulging on her neck could have popped.  
  
"..." Mesmori's mouth was gaping as a tear fell down her right cheek.  
  
"KUSO!" Jounouchi cursed and fell to the dusty floor, he began to pound it and let all emotions flee from his eye sockets.  
  
"ANZU!" Honda shook her. Anzu lay without movement, the granite ball still electrocuting her arm. Her skin turned purple, as her corneas were lost to her sclera. She was freezing cold in Honda's arms, possibly even colder than the Arctic or Antarctic combined.  
  
"Why her! Why did you do this! Of all people... WHY ANZU!" Yami Yuugi's head shot down, not wanting to show the tears in his eyes. 'Anzu, don't go... You are not dead... Are you?'  
  
"You're lying! She isn't dead!" Jounouchi brought himself off the ground and clenched his fists. "You bastard!!!" Jounouchi ran in a quick haste towards the battle arena.  
  
"Matte!" Mesmori screamed as she ran after him. It was too late, Jounouchi had forgotten all about the quicksand that was below the torture bed. He was sinking in! First his feet, than his legs, and finally his torso were completely gone. Mesmori grabbed hold of his arm and tried to pull him out of it, yet she was now getting pulled too.  
  
"Stop this now! No more deaths need to be done! A monster has not died!" Mesmori cried.  
  
The stuck grin pierced Hell Umei's face for a few minutes until she said, "You die of your own will, but further more, it is your turn Yuugi...." She brushed off the words and fixed her eyes on Yami Yuugi.  
  
Besides the screams from Mesmori and Jounouchi, Honda was to stiff to move knowing he was holding a deceased body in his arms. His eyes were wide and a cold sweat spread over his body and was even drenching the top part of his shirt.  
  
Yami Yuugi would not speak.  
  
"Get with it!" Hell Umei began to itch her left arm, making her brown skin ashy in that area. "You wanted to learn more so you did! You lost some useless being in the process, oh wah wah. Come on, you know you want to see Jounouchi die next!"  
  
Yami Yuugi didn't stir from his position.  
  
"I mean... it is your fault after all." Yami Yuugi finally flinched from Hell Umei's words. "You made the foolish move in the first place after all... You never should have agreed to dueling with me... never." Followed by her words was a chuckle.  
  
Yami Yuugi's shoulder began to shake.  
  
"GET OVER IT! Will you go!" Hell Umei growled, as she became furious; She had finally dented the side of her control panel from her rage.  
  
"...Ehhmeeh..." Yami Yuugi gasped as he finally held his head up, and for once, Hell Umei was left speechless. Yami Yuugi's eyes were gone!? No, not just the color in them, but the whole eye! Hell Umei held her hands to her mouth, her pupils growing small. You could clearly see the very vanilla- white of his skull now, along with the arteries. Strange, how could this have happened? Stranger still, he was not bleeding.  
  
With everyone distracted from the field now—Honda petrified, Mesmori trying to submerge Jounouchi, and Anzu dead—Hell Umei was finally left without a remark or laugh. Yami Yuugi had fallen into darkness.  
  
---  
  
'Where am I...' Yami Yuugi pondered as he lay on a stone tile floor in a pitch-black room. His eyelids were weighted and halfway open. Yami Yuugi tried to move his appendages but it was as if the whole world has crushed his body beneath it.  
  
'You are where you chose to be...' A voice broke through Yami Yuugi's mind. The voice was meek yet very raspy.  
  
Yami Yuugi began to struggle to get up and speak, his mouth moved yet no words seeped through.  
  
'Do not be alarmed, do not be afraid.'  
  
Yami Yuugi regained his composed aura and suddenly, torches began to light up on the walls of the room. His eyes glanced every which-way on the floor as he looked for the being that talked through his mind. The room had no exit, the room had yellow stone embedded all over it, the room was empty of any other life form but Yami Yuugi.  
  
'Do you not recognize me...' A figure emerged from the walls of the room but only came out enough to where her upper body down her navel was seen. Her skin was tan, her extremely long hair was blonde, and her eyes hot pink. Further more, she was nude.  
  
'Hell Umei... You resemble her?' Yami Yuugi thought to himself as he finally figured out he could communicate telepathically with her.  
  
'I am her, but I am not her.' She covered her small face with her hair as she held her head downwards.  
  
'Why am I here? Where am I!' Yami Yuugi tried to move. 'Why can't I stand!'  
  
'You are here because you chose to be here, you chose this place to be here, you cannot move because you are failing.'  
  
'Failing? You speak in riddles.'  
  
The girl held her head up, 'You speak the wrong questions. You are here because you have given up faith.'  
  
'Faith in what!' Yami Yuugi clenched his eyes shut.  
  
'Faith in being there.'  
  
'Hugh...' Yami Yuugi gritted his teeth.  
  
'Ask the right questions... Why did you come here...'  
  
Yami Yuugi bolted his eyes open and glared at the female. 'Why do YOU think I am here?'  
  
'You have lost faith in your abilities, you need an answer to a situation, you will never move on if you do not believe you can.'  
  
'How do YOU think I can overcome my situation?'  
  
The female held her hands out. 'Crystal Ball, Sword, and Mirror. Mythical totems told to be gifts of Yanma. Three artifacts, one carrier. You draw the carrier, the items falter.'  
  
'Yanma? Chinese name of Enma?' Yami Yuugi's questions grew silent.  
  
'You still do not believe... How will you be able to fight if you do not believe? What are you fighting for...'  
  
'My friends, my family, mankind... NO! What do YOU think I am fighting for?' Yami Yuugi peered at the entity.  
  
'You have no cause...'  
  
'Your answer is inaccurate! I am fighting to save my friends and family! Both are what matter the most to me, and I will say it too, no matter if I seem selfish, I value them over mankind! I will not stop trying; I will not succumb to an opponent that threatens them! With what I have to do known now, I will not fail! I believe the battle will not be a turn for the worst, it will be a turn for new comings of jovial triumph!'  
  
And with those words said, Yami Yuugi felt the weight being lifted off his body. He could move. He proceeded to stand.  
  
"And that," Yami Yuugi spoke, "That is what will keep me from being held back... I know now I still have a chance to save everyone.'"  
  
The female smiled towards Yami Yuugi as she closed her eyes and began to fade away. The entire room began to disintegrate.  
  
"Matte!" Yami Yuugi called to her as he held one of his hands out. "What are you! Why are you here!"  
  
As Yami Yuugi's savior began to become one with the wall as she opened her eyes halfway. 'I am HER, but I am not HER. I am here because you wanted me to be here.'  
  
And that was the last thing said to Yami Yuugi as he saw his own body beginning to disintegrate along with the room. But before he left, he quickly reached for the small, thin tablet on the floor between his feet that he had been lying on. He took it with him as he exited that dimension that was his own mind.  
  
---  
  
Yami Yuugi's eyes returned to his sockets as soon as he blinked. He looked around to see where he was. Back in the real world, the real world that was a thread away from destruction. He noticed that Hell Umei was glaring at the battlefield as her fingers clenched to her palms. Her pink eyes shifted in every direction while it was as if time stood still. Honda, still petrified, did not even attempt to move at all, it was as if he was not, could not, breath. Jounouchi and Mesmori; however, remained with a stuck expression on their face as they were in a panic—Jounouchi was not sinking into the sand anymore! It was too silent for Yami Yuugi to stomach. The entire world was suspended from time.  
  
"... No matter what you do... I will live on!" Hell Umei murmured as she finally stared towards Yami Yuugi—becoming immune to the sudden halt in time. The grin was gigantic on her visage as her pupils in her eyes were practically microscopic. Tears began to fall from her very sockets—no, not tears, blood. She trembled from fear as she clutched her own head and began to shake it and mumbled over and over again: "Enmako! Enmako! Enmako!"  
  
Yami Yuugi's eyelids became heavy; showing empathy to this tainted soul. Somehow she knew, she knew Yami Yuugi had something that would surely end this duel. He huffed as he glanced off back to Anzu. His demeanor grew dim while he stared at the frozen picture before him. 'Anzu... Part of me believes you are still here, part of me; however, wants to deny that you are not here... I'm sorry! Revenge!'  
  
"SHE'S DEAD! I WAS ABLE TO DESTROY SOMETHING YOU CHERISHED AFTER ALL! I TRIUMPH AFTER ALL NO MATTER THE OUTCOME! YOU KILLED ANZU!" Hell Umei laughed maniacally as her blood tears streamed down her face so rapid that it resembled an overflowed river.  
  
Yami Yuugi closed his eyes to calm himself, but when he reopened them again, a new Yami Yuugi appeared. His pupils were rolled in the back of his sockets now while his entire countenance was blank—literally, he was faceless if he did not have his eye-sockets still in place! Yami Yuugi hands tightened on the stone tablet he finally revealed to the world by lifting over his head. A gust of wind began to blow over him as the blackened clouds began to clear from the Earth; a beautiful limpid blue was visible as it broke through the sky in patches. Time returned as the quicksand that was stationed under the battlefield began to swirl up into the sky, Jounouchi, Mesmori still with arms latched around his neck, felt himself being lifted out of the quicksand. Honda stood, now with a tranquil expression, while the water that once filled the ocean began to flood back to its place. And Anzu... Still dead.  
  
'I may be selfish...' Yami Yuugi's voice echoed through the minds of every person at the scene—every person in the world! 'But I rather be selfish to have the love of others instead of no love at all! I did not kill Anzu! I killed you!'  
  
Yami Yuugi's entire body withdrew into shadow as an eye symbol illuminated his forehead. 'Crystal Ball, Sword, and Mirror. Mythical totems told to be gifts of Yanma. Three artifacts, one carrier. You draw the carrier, the items falter! Friendship, Courage, and Love! Totems of all! None of you! Let me show you what they are worth! I choose... ATEMKO!  
  
And the breath of life seeped back into Mizaki Anzu.  
  
"That name!" Hell Umei screamed.  
  
"Yuugi!" Anzu lifted herself from off the ground and, knocking the granite ball that was once lodged in her arm to the ground, began to run towards the arena—doing so, the ground began to shake, slowing her down. The entire world went through the tremor once again.  
  
Assortments of colors flew from the panel Yami Yuugi had placed the small tablet on, a void of darkness spread over the arena and out of it materialized a being two-stories tall. Seven arms and hands covered in fine adornments, not connected to the body, moved freely and twirled at the sides of the massive male body. A codpiece of precious stones and silver was the only thing providing "coverage" from the male monster. Its body was red as a withering rose and white hieroglyphs were etched all over its body. The "monster" in the man was seen in his face. Besides having a muscular physique—the "perfect" male body—the man's face had the face of a jackal. Its eyes beamed like the sun and its sanguine fluid streamed from its snout as its rotted fangs were gritted so hard that the beast's very jaw began to bleed. It was certainly a rare sight to gaze upon such a grotesque creature. Atemko- Attack: 4000, Defense: 4200  
  
Hell Umei held her hands upward, wanting the creature with opened arms while her fit of laughter would not cease. It was over.  
  
Atemko brought his fists upward as he growled—a growl so mighty it was heard throughout the entire planet, possibly the entire universe. Enmako broke into its former pieces (Snipper, Forest Guardian, and Sun's Rays) and they began to float into the sky; the whole field was being lifted from the ground as well. Yami Yuugi—faceless still—stood without moving an inch as Hell Umei—maniacal still—was now staring a Yami Yuugi.  
  
"Holy—" Jounouchi shouted from below as debris started to fall—Mesmori was suffocating him from the grasp she had on him.  
  
---  
  
The entire arena—breaking apart bit by bit—was now two stories in the air and was now over Atemko's form; he began to tear it apart with his bare hands until he was able to get his hands on all three of the monsters that are needed to form Enmako. Atemko proceeded to rip Enmako's disciples apart until the point where there was nothing left to tear away. Limbs, bones, and blood flung everywhere. Now, the battle was finally over... Hell Umei: 0 ,Yami Yuugi: 176  
  
A void of luminous white light formed over Atemko, and the duelist ring, disintegrating both. The most realistic, most ancient, most rare duel monster ever seen to Yami Yuugi's eyes—besides Exodia—now dematerialized along with the field. And then, Yami Yuugi and Hell Umei were the only ones left floating in the sunny sky. Yami Yuugi's face returned. Hell Umei's face did not change. Both stood on their own small piece of stone platform—the only thing left of the battlefield. The world was spared.  
  
Yami Yuugi stared below him to the peak below. Anzu was alive, Hell Umei was wrong. And a jovial feeling embraced Yami Yuugi as he smirked and peered over to Hell Umei. There was only one more thing to do now.  
  
"Do my eyes deceive me, did you not just lose! Now, you can always change your path..."  
  
It wasn't finished just yet.  
  
Hell Umei's eyes began to roll behind her head as he mouth moved a mile a minute. "Not over! Join me in hell!" she held her hands towards him as granite balls still formed behind her. No matter what, she was determined to still destroy this world even though she had lost. This antagonist just would not give up.  
  
Yami Yuugi would not allow anymore chances of rehabilitation anymore. It was time. Yami Yuugi held his left-hand forward and spread out his fingers. "Penalty!"  
  
"YUUGI NO!" a transparent form of Umei emerged from Hell Umei as she screamed with all her might.  
  
Yami Yuugi didn't know until it was too late, "Mind crush!"  
  
---  
  
Anzu fell to the ground as she was kneeled over the spot the arena had stood. Her eyes bulged as she looked to the sky. "Yuugi.. Come back..."  
  
"A terrible ending..." Mesmori whispered as she walked up behind Anzu.  
  
Suddenly, a flash of lightning broke through the sky. The once visible figures of Yami Yuugi and Hell Umei have now disappeared from sight as the rest of the world returned to its normal aura. Magic & Wizard Duel Cards began to fall to the peak like snow, each one once owned by the two hard- core duelists.  
  
Anzu quivered as she screamed out in the silence: "Yuugi! Yuugi! Yuugi!"  
  
---  
  
To Be Continued... 


	5. Happy Birthday Hell Umei

~Previously on Yugiou; The man's robe rustled in another up coming wind, "... It hasn't been long, your face has become much more elegant from what I have remembered, at least you are looking more like a lady... Matouchi..." his voice left a trace of arrogance.  
  
"Nani?! Please tell me who you are?" Mesmori jumped back at his statement.  
  
"Furthermore, I will not become your courtesan that you want to discharge your erotic positions on! Go find sexual perversion from some other call girl!" Mesmori finally was finished voicing her opinion.  
  
"Eh, very pissy isn't she," Jounouchi snickered into Mesmori's ear, "Must be that time of the month." He began to chuckle.  
  
"Oh my!" Mesmori gasped shocked holding her hands clutched up to her chin. "And right during a duel of all places!" her eyes sparkled in concern. "I may have something for her, always come prepared." Mesmori began looking through her junky, oversized jacket pockets.  
  
"How can someone harbor so much hatred..." Yami Yuugi grew angry. "Is it because there was no one ever there to encourage you? Is that why you grew a heart of jealousy and malevolence? Is that why you chose Umei... Because her heart of jealousy and malice was equal to yours that night?"  
  
Hell Umei's hot pink eyes shimmered, "Meet Sun's Rays, Forest Guardian, and Snipper.... The three ritual cards!"  
  
"Let death begin... My turn... But before I can do so, Enmako must first feed on one of my monsters in order to be active! I give him the Rare Elven Ice Dancer!" Hell Umei's maniacal grin did not falter yet her voice got louder and more annoying. A smog wrapped around the Rare Elven Ice Dancer who was now crying for mercy as she was sucked into the pit of Enmako's soul.  
  
"Why her! Why did you do this! Of all people... WHY ANZU!" Yami Yuugi's head shot down, not wanting to show the tears in his eyes. 'Anzu, don't go... You are not dead... Are you?'  
  
'I may be selfish...' Yami Yuugi's voice echoed through the minds of every person at the scene—every person in the world! 'But I rather be selfish to have the love of others instead of no love at all! I did not kill Anzu! I killed you!'  
  
Yami Yuugi's entire body withdrew into shadow as an eye symbol illuminated his forehead. 'Crystal Ball, Sword, and Mirror. Mythical totems told to be gifts of Yanma. Three artifacts, one carrier. You draw the carrier, the items falter! Friendship, Courage, and Love! Totems of all! None of you! Let me show you what they are worth! I choose... ATEMKO!'  
  
Yami Yuugi would not allow anymore chances of rehabilitation anymore. It was time. Yami Yuugi held his left-hand forward and spread out his fingers. "Penalty!"  
  
"YUUGI NO!" a transparent form of Umei emerged from Hell Umei as she screamed with all her might.  
  
Yami Yuugi didn't know until it was too late, "Mind crush!"  
  
Pegasus turned back to the window and peered outside, he peered at the sixteen-year old girl, he peered at her mangled body as if a bomb had exploded inside of her, he peered at the East Domino High school uniform she had been wearing.~  
  
-  
  
A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode Five: Happy Birthday Hell Umei  
  
-  
  
"I know it was her," a peeved tone spat out, "It wreaks of her, I know it is her! She tried to kill me! I know I know! I saw it! I saw her! For the while I was dead, I saw her! Temee! She dueled as if she could win! That entire duel! That boy! Those monsters! But how could I see all that? How could I see her? Wie!? A connection perhaps? A connection by a thread? A thread of an inevitable outcome! I, and only I, am destined to kill her!"  
  
The proprietor behind the voice was a female with shoulder-length ebony hair. Upon her she bore a East Domino High uniform, stained with blood at the appendages. It was obvious enough that she was the "once dead" victim outside the castle walls. Yet she was alive again.  
  
"UNGLAUBLICH!" She glared down at her attire. "Mag es nicht! Because of Umei my uniform is ruined!" and she reached for the gigantic tote bag, as black as her hair, that hung on her left side. Out she pulled a .22 and coped the handle as she clicked the trigger. The gun shot off with a bang to the sky as the manaical female howled with laughter. "Pay back is issued! For I, Dene, will not be played the butt of a duel penalty!"  
  
And the sixteen-year-old, Dene, marched off into the woods and away from the castle, her jet-black stiletto heels piercing the dirt. She was too caught up in getting revenge on her "life-time adversary" that she didn't notice Wolfram Schwarz gazing at her from one of the castle windows.  
  
"Aber erst..." Dene halted, "I MUST CHANGE!"  
  
---  
  
Atemko... Enmako... Atemko... Enmako... Atemko... Enmako... Atemko... Enmako... Atemko... Enmako... Atemko... Enmako... Atemko... Enmako... Atemko... Enmako... Atemko...  
  
Yuugi, no longer possessed by the spirit of his Millennium Puzzle, awoke to the sounds of murmuring. A voice he recognized all too well. He lifted his head up along with his body to see where he was.  
  
The sky was at its darkest and underneath him was nothing but miles of sand, yet before him however; a black stone pyramid stood at about seven stories tall. Two statues, twelve feet tall, stood three feet away from each other and symbolized the entrance. The statue towards Yuugi's left was the exact replica of Atemko while the one towards Yuugi's right was of Enmako! Beyond the statues was a set of stairs leading towards a pitch- black corridor inside the castle.  
  
Umei sat at the foot of the stairs clutching her head intensely. She was the one whispering the names of the two monsters she vaguely remembered from her entity's duel with Yuugi. She was no longer the vile Hell Umei, now just a confused Umei.  
  
"Umei, what's wrong?" Yuugi dashed towards her as she stood to face him, her pale green eyes didn't gleam with the encouragement she once had in them—they were dull.  
  
"Yuugi..." her expression hardened as soon as she realized whom she was alone with, "Go away! I don't need your sympathy!" Umei clinched her fists as she turned towards the stairs.  
  
"Umei! Matte!" Yuugi grabbed hold of her hand and began jabbering: "Where is the others? Have you seen them? What has happened? What is this place?"  
  
"Let go, does it look like I know!" Umei shook him away from her.  
  
Yuugi took a deep breath, bowed, and then said: "I apologize for grabbing onto you like that, I'm just at a loss at what has just happened."  
  
"I don't know anymore than you do..." Umei noticed she had just said her statement with empathy towards Yuugi so she quickly blurted out, "Shouldn't you apologize for something else too!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Umei crossed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "You little cheater, I would've won if you hadn't pulled a stunt like that! You got help from outside the duel by using a card that wasn't yours, you should be disqualified!"  
  
Yuugi spoke out in his defense rather calmly, "I don't think the duel matters at this point, and besides, you had no say in what happened, it was you that wanted to end it but SHE wouldn't let you. That terrible enigma that possessed you wanted you dead and wanted to destroy the world if I didn't stop her. I saved your life. And anyway, you used an arena that was possibly not even part of Duelist Kingdom's regulations, you would be disqualified too... Furthermore, YOU could be tried for murder! "  
  
Umei held her head down and raked her hands through her blonde hair.  
  
"I don't believe you are that evil into wanting to keep that spirit inside you. It claimed you as its victim and called you weak. It fed off of your hatred. Yet in the end... I remember you saying that you wanted me to stop from banishing that enigma from your mind when it was too late... Is that part of the reason why we're here?!"  
  
"You can't kill her! You don't understand! This is your fault!" Umei shot her head up while she spun around on the balls of her heels and sprinted off towards the corridor at the end of the stairway.  
  
"Umei!" Yuugi called after her, "You are breathing hatred! Don't go into that room of darkness, you don't know what's in there!"  
  
"Leave me alone!" It was as if Umei's body became one with the darkness as she disappeared into the void.  
  
Yuugi took off after. 'Why are you acting this way?' he thought as he vanished into the darkness as well.  
  
---  
  
"Umei!" Yuugi shouted. It was impossible to see anything that was in front of him; it reminded him of that room he had gone to in his mind when he had ran out of hope of defeating Hell Umei in their duel.  
  
Yuugi stretched his hands to feel around where he was going. His fingertips traced over a wall so he stalked against it as he kept moving forward.. The corridor went on for miles and miles and it seemed to be getting darker and darker each step Yuugi took. The hallway also seemed to get narrower and narrower as Yuugi was running out of space. He edged forward. For at least ten minutes he had been walking until his hands brushed over something. He began to poke at whatever the voluptuous thingy-ma-bober was; something he would regret executing  
  
"Ecchi!" Umei screeched. It echoed through the entire corridor as she smacked Yuugi's hand away from her bosom. "What do you think you are doing you perv! Kuso!" Umei brought her hands around her chest as she turned bright red, unfortunately, Yuugi couldn't see that she was shielding herself.  
  
Unfortunately, Umei couldn't see that Yuugi's face was flushed with embarrassment as well. "Gomen gomen! It's not like I go around doing that! I couldn't see!"  
  
"You fondled me! Ecchi ecchi!" the sounds of Umei's boots backing away resonated through the air.  
  
"I apologized! Why were you standing there anyway!"  
  
Umei began to tap her foot, "I don't have to explain myself to you, you groped me and that is that, what kind of friend are you!"  
  
"Friend?" Yuugi whispered.  
  
"I MEAN—Oh shut up!" It was best that Umei didn't see the smirk that stretched across Yuugi's face.  
  
"There you go again, when something doesn't turn out the way you plan you blame others and start acting on wicked intentions. That isn't your true self I know, the way you wanted to end the duel when that creature inside of you forced you to surrender yourself to her will... There is a caring person inside of you, if you would stop running from people when they reach out to you then you might be treated better."  
  
Umei stared down at Yuugi, her countenance grew lighter.  
  
"Even though you are nasty to everyone they still try and be your friend and that is what frightens you. Not too long ago, Jounouchi and Honda were never considered my friends because of the way they treated me but I learned why. They wanted to make me stronger, and now I am."  
  
"You... You are calling me a false person..." Umei had a hurt personage strike her face. "Everyone does..."  
  
Yuugi's eyes widened at Umei's sudden conversion. "Maybe if you didn't act false around everyone else and showed others who you really are on the inside. I saw that 'you'... The same night I defeated Kaiba in that duel, that's when that being attacked you... remember?"  
  
Umei's mouth was left a gape.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"What do you want?" Umei stalked about the coliseum floor. She had just left Mokuba and Seto when the lights in the room had just went out.  
  
"... Kauket..." a raspy voice rung through the air.  
  
"Who is that?!" Umei jerked around.  
  
"KAUKET! YOU WANTED REVENGE!"  
  
Umei took off in a dash, because she couldn't see where she was going, she tripped over something on the floor and fell over. She tried to get up off the ground but something cold wrapped around her leg. The chill of the object rushed over her entire body and she saw purple fragments of energy forming above her. The particles became what looked like a large, bulging puffy cloud.  
  
"What's going on!" Umei screamed. The cloud whirled itself into a tornado and twirled itself towards Umei. The very point of it began to circle its way into Umei's mouth. The taste was mostly unbearable and Umei's eyes widened as it forced its way into her body.  
  
Umei's last thought before unconsciousness: 'No, not anymore, forgive me...'  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Why would you want me to remember something like that, it has nothing to do with you..." Umei mumbled as she grew even more melancholy.  
  
"You don't remember it all..." Yuugi coaxed.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Get away from her!" Yami Yuugi called out from the darkness.  
  
"You can see through this?" Jounouchi shouted beside him.  
  
Both boys jogged towards the fallen girl as Yami Yuugi's Millennium Puzzle beamed a golden light.  
  
Only part of the cloud didn't make its way into Umei as it dematerialized into the air. Because of the light pulsing from the point of Yami Yuugi's Sennen Totem, he was able to light the room a little better so the two could see in front of them. Jounouchi kneeled before Umei and slid one of his arms under her neck and the other under her rump.  
  
"This is... Yuugi, How did you know?" Jounouchi panted.  
  
"Hm?" Yami Yuugi turned towards his friend.  
  
Jounouchi stood, "How did you know she was in danger?"  
  
Yami Yuugi's gaze hardened as his eyes peered at Umei, "... It doesn't matter... It won't come back" Jounouchi looked puzzled so Yami Yuugi quickly said, "Where can we take her?"  
  
"My place!" It didn't take Jounouchi long to think about that question and come back with a response as he made a perverted grin.  
  
"Wait, I know a place, but you might not like whose place it is..."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"That entity said something about you being born with a high ESP, that's why you are able to perform telepathy... I knew you could do it before, I was surprised during my duel to learn that my suspicions were true. On that night you channeled your thoughts through the coliseum, though Jounouchi didn't hear you, I did. How do you do that?" Yuugi was leaning against the walls of the pyramid.  
  
"It's like focusing on what you say verbally but you don't exactly say it from your mouth. It's to complicated to explain because it is just really unusual to me too." Umei's right palm went over her forehead, "But anyway, I do remember... though only a little. The haze though, it was that entity... but Yuugi, only part of it..." she stopped herself.  
  
"Hm?" Yuugi's eyes grew questionable.  
  
"—You. And your cheerleader---erm, friend---helped me? Why did you two, mostly Katsuya, help me? I was evil to Katsuya." Umei changed the subject; it was better to forget about the entity that attacked her.  
  
"No matter if you were a stranger or not I would have still helped you. When someone's in trouble you should do your part in helping even though they may be an ally or otherwise. It doesn't matter to me as long as the person I'm aiding is okay." Yuugi began to itch his head, a little puzzled at Umei's question.  
  
Umei smiled—yes smiled—and murmured, "Yuugi... You aren't false."  
  
All of a sudden, Yuugi's Sennen totem that hung around his neck loosely and Umei's mysterious totem that was wrapped around her neck tightly began to glow with a magnificent, yet blinding, brightness! The entire corridor was lit, right down to the last crack in the wall. A flash so luminous that it could start a fire and literally it did. There were torches hung upon the wall that in an instant began to burn as the light from the two items ceased. Now with the newfound source of light in the hallway, the two could see before them.  
  
"Is that a smile?" Yuugi chuckled.  
  
Umei didn't let her smile go away even after the event that just happened. "Indeed it is, got a problem with that?"  
  
"That was peculiar..." Yuugi lifted up his Millennium Puzzle and began to examine it, "Three times this happened. I never seen such a beam of light during the strangest of situations..."  
  
"What other times has it happened?" Umei felt her feet becoming exhausted from standing in the same place for too long so she hunched to the floor and looked up at Yuugi.  
  
"Well just now, on the island before I met you, and after my duel with Kaiba." Yuugi sat down as well after seeing what lied beyond their position; the walls joined to each and created a dead end, nowhere else to tread.  
  
"Kaiba... I remember waking in his limousine, it was almost morning though he was wide awake."  
  
"That wasn't exactly the place I thought of that night. I thought he was going to take you to his place because it was so late. It's just that... sleeping in a car is not all that comfy."  
  
Umei began to laugh uncontrollably as her bottom hit the floor. She held her gut and practically toppled over into Yuugi's lap. "Yuugi, you are too good to be true." She gasped for air through her laughter.  
  
Yuugi began to laugh as well.  
  
After a few minutes of their chorus of tittering, Umei finally confessed to Yuugi. "I do know why we were brought here." She had spat out almost seriously as she stopped laughing completely; it was as if she had never laughed to begin with.  
  
Her sudden change startled Yuugi and he needed a moment to gather himself. "You do?"  
  
Umei cleared her throat and turned her eyes away from Yuugi's own. "That being that possessed me, that demon, it called itself Tekuak. He... She... it spoke to me, it threatened me, in my dream, my nightmare."  
  
"He? It was a she? Wasn't it?" Yuugi's sclera widened and made his pupils grew small.  
  
"Androgynous. Man and Woman in the same body and similar features. A Hermaphrodite. But that's besides the point," Umei continued as Yuugi was rather bewildered to hear about such a thing for the first time. "While I slept that night, the night I was attacked and rescued by you, she kept calling to me—"Umei affected her voice in a low and raspy town, "—Stop me and I take you with me, banish me and I take you with me, disobey me and your loved ones will be tortured forever, I can make you do such acts without your knowing... you'll wake up everyday wondering what you have done... murder, thievery, rape..."  
  
Yuugi felt a shiver roll down his spine at how good Umei was able to impersonate Hell Umei's voice right down to the last cackle.  
  
"So in short, because of you exiling her, we are stuck here for eternity, which is why I blamed you..." Umei held her head. "I blame myself, I deserve whatever Tekuak made me do to anyone without my knowing! The pain in not knowing what I did, and Tekuak describing each act in excruciating detail! I am false!"  
  
Yuugi's hands clasped around Umei and he shook her from her accusations, "Calm down! No one deserves such a thing, we're both at fault so don't lay it on just one person."  
  
Umei lifted her head, her eyes close to flowing tears. "How can you be so optimistic! We are sealed in some unknown world with that bastard lurking somewhere!"  
  
"Hai... But she's also sealed here with two people who overcame her... Possibly her worst opponents of all."  
  
Those kind, purple eyes of Yuugi mesmerized Umei as a lone tear slid down her cheek. "Unbelievable, there is only one you in all the world, and the only person that anyone would want to have as their company, though luckily, I get you all to myself." Umei came away from Yuugi, leaving his hands suspended in air from where her shoulders had been. She stood.  
  
Yuugi grew a little paranoid at Umei's statement and began to sweat. 'All to herself?!'  
  
'Mmhmm... that's right.' Umei's thoughts went through Yuugi's.  
  
Umei reached for her red beanie atop her head and dropped it to the floor as it disturbed the dust particles around it. She waved her head from side to side and let her brownish-blonde locks hidden by her hat fall to her shoulders.  
  
Yuugi began to sweat now as his eyes shrunk and the veins in his eyes began to pulse. "U-mm-Umei!" Yuugi stuttered.  
  
Umei brought her hands behind her neck and began to fiddle with something. "Yuugi I want you—"  
  
Yuugi felt his own sanguine fluid roll down his nostrils as he brought his hands up and began moving them around. He began to mumble quickly. "UmeiIdon'tthinkweshould! UnlikeyouI'mnotexperienced! Not saying that you do that stuff! But look it is so dirty and you shouldn't do a dirty act on a dirty place! MATTE! AH!"  
  
"—To have this..." She brought her hand up to Yuugi and presented what she held in it. It was her Egyptian totem still attached to her jet-black choker.  
  
Yuugi stared at Umei's hand for quite a long time and harshly exhaled. "So you don't want to... you know...." He began to blush.  
  
"Wha? Where'd you get that?!" Umei's voice sounded slightly irritated.  
  
Yuugi stood and blabbered. "Well, come on, you were completely implying everything and you took off your hat and was doing all these recognizable gestures and you reached behind you as if you were gonna take off your br—"  
  
Umei couldn't help but laugh. "Iie, Iie! Seto and I—" She stepped back and coughed. "Ahem, it is rather hot in here and my hat didn't help cool my head a bit, I see you are sweating, I hope not from being afraid of doing "that" thing and just because it is so hot. Everything else you believe I was implying is just your nerves."  
  
Yuugi nodded even more embarrassed.  
  
Umei brought out her hand again, "But anyway, heh, I want you to have this. Before my mother died I found this and it has brought me nothing but a sort of bad luck. Maybe with a positive person like yourself, it would bring you something greater."  
  
"Oh no no no!" Yuugi bowed. "Something to remember your mother shouldn't be left to my possession! It's your memories and I have something special to me already, I couldn't take something special from you. You see, there are certain people that obtain these." Yuugi coped his Millennium Puzzle, "They are destined by some odd sort of... sort of—"  
  
"A thread, like it was woven into their life's 'quilt' before all of existence." Umei murmured.  
  
"Well.. yea... Besides I think it best you keep it. A choker wouldn't look right on me..." Yuugi chortled a bit.  
  
Umei brought it back to her self and fastened it around her neck. She walked towards the dead end and turned her back towards it. "Stuck here until our death, no one better to be stuck here than a person who would rival my conscience. Too bad our cards aren't here, we could've played against each other again." She huffed and flopped to the floor. "Yuugi... What if—EH!" Umei's back leaned against the wall that she thought was there. She fell through it and now half of her was present to Yuugi.  
  
"Umei!" Yuugi stood and ran by the wall. He drew his hands over it and found out that there was no wall at all. "A hologram?! Well as long as we're here, might as well search every inch of this place..." Yuugi walked through it to see the other part of Umei.  
  
She laid there on the floor a little peeved and with narrowed eyes. "Yo..."  
  
Yuugi stared down at her and began to laugh.  
  
"No more laughter, we've done enough of that." Umei stood up and dusted off her Capri denims. "I swear, Tekuak is making an ass of me."  
  
Yuugi already took off walking down the rest of the hallway, leaving Umei to catch up.  
  
---  
  
Now instead of the hallway going on and on in a straight path, the duo came to a winding staircase that went down for miles. But with the torches lighting the way, the twosome weren't afraid of getting attacked without their knowing.  
  
"Geez, as far down this goes you'd expect to see Satan himself by now." Umei broke the silence between the two after walking for thirty minutes.  
  
Yuugi never spoke back, he was too focused on what waited at the end of the stairwell. It didn't take long to find out. Yuugi stopped to see another dead end in front of him, but on the wall was a portrait etched in stone, a portrait of the Egyptian eye that rested on his and Umei's totems. Yuugi brought his fingers to his chin as he pondered the question whether or not it was another illusion. He brought his fingers from his chin and was about to touch it when—  
  
"Another of Tekuak's tricks! I'm getting tired of this! SHINE!" Umei blurted out further behind Yuugi, she began to pick up speed and rush towards the supposed fake wall.  
  
"Umei! Matte!" Yuugi screamed but it was too late.  
  
A loud echo of Umei slamming into the wall reverberated throughout the pyramid; she had rammed headfirst into structure and fell to the floor.  
  
"Eck..." Yuugi slapped his forehead.  
  
Umei was practically knocked out as she laid there with drool slipping from her mouth.  
  
Yuugi ignored Umei for a bit and studied the wall again. He drew his fingers over the edges of the eye on the wall and came to the center. He knocked his hand around it and then upon its center to discover that the pupil of the eye was in fact false. He quickly bashed at the pupil and it shattered. Along with the pupil the entire wall shattered as well. Now a whole other lighted hallway lay before them.  
  
Umei sat up with a rather huge, pulsing bump on her forehead. "Ouch man, god!" She rubbed her hand over her forehead but suddenly over her entire head. "Crap crap crap!" She bolted up and began to turn in every direction. "My hat! I left my hat!"  
  
Yuugi sighed.  
  
"Kuso kuso kuso! Damn you Tekuak! Quit toying with me!" Umei turned to sprint back up the stairs but Yuugi had stopped her by grasping her arm.  
  
"Umei..."  
  
"NANI? My hat man!" Umei glared at him but noticed he wasn't looking at her at all. Umei twisted her head around towards the passageway to see what Yuugi was so fixated with.  
  
"I think it best you don't leave just yet..." Yuugi pointed at the end of the hallway before them. Towards the end, though not too far from the two, was most definitely a grinning Tekuak standing in a darkness that loomed around her.  
  
"Umei what do we—" Yuugi began to say but noticed the gust that blew past him. Umei was already jetting towards Tekuak in a furious outburst. The grin on Tekuak did not falter.  
  
"TEMEE! How dare you show your face before us!" Umei blasted out as her footsteps pounded on the pyramid floor. Although the closer and closer Umei got towards Tekuak, the menacing grin did not disperse, and Umei found out why.  
  
Umei executed a punch but soon executed a cry of agony and discomfort. Umei sat on the floor and held her bruised right knuckle while her three strands of hair fell over her eyes while the rest of her hair rested over her shoulders... The darkness cleared away.  
  
Yuugi sighed once again and strolled over to Umei. "Another painted picture on the wall."  
  
"We're trying to teach Tekuak a lesson..." Umei stood up once again, "But it's really me who is being taught a lesson... ugh." Umei became teary-eyed and began patting her head. "My hat..."  
  
"Hm?" Yuugi began to walk back and forth in front of the portrait of Tekuak, there had to have been something else to do to get pass this wall as well. 'Tekuak brought us here to get rid of her enemies even though she became banished here herself. There has to be an exit, she has to have a fail-safe... somewhere? She used Umei's hatred to get so far ahead. She possibly counted on bringing us here in order to trap us while she makes off without being contained here. That illusion, that wall with its own weakness...? Hmm...'  
  
Umei listened to Yuugi's thoughts a bit and wandered over to him. "An illusion, a weakness in the center..." Suddenly, Umei's item began to shimmer as her pale green eyes turned yellow.  
  
"Nani?!" Yuugi backed away from Umei.  
  
'The little girl cries... Because she has no eyes...' Umei's thoughts whirled around Yuugi's mind, though it was not thought in her own voice. The voice Yuugi heard was rather childish and perky. 'The mirror shows her, yet to her, it is all a blur.'  
  
"What does that mean?" Yuugi gasped, but then Umei's eyes returned to their original color and her item's light show halted.  
  
"Nani?" Umei shook her head. "An illusion, weakness in center, a mirror? But this isn't a mirror, and I don't see a little girl?"  
  
Yuugi stared up at Umei, but not into Umei's face, into her Egyptian totem. Within the eye was a sliver of glass made out to be the pupil! The small teen's hands clamped around Umei's item and yanked it towards the portrait.  
  
Umei gagged and clawed at her neck. But before she could shriek at Yuugi, the portrait of Tekuak began to glow a spiting yellow light. The wall disappeared but a strong gust began to blow from the room beyond the passageway. Yuugi and Umei were both pulled in as the wall reappeared behind them. All light was gone from the room as the pair laid on the cold floor.  
  
"Yuugi!" Umei felt around on the floor until she came to her fallen friend. She brought him to his feet and asked: "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine, just wish we could see in this place..." As if on cue with Yuugi's words, a torch was lit on the far side of the room, now revealed to be a torture chamber. The torch was jammed right into the middle of the chest of what looked like Tekuak chained to the wall by shackles—but it couldn't be! The Tekuak they saw before them was decomposing and rotting with flesh practically barren from the bone.  
  
"Ohmigod!" Umei gulped as Yuugi turned away.  
  
Umei, being completely fearless, or completely stupid, ran towards the long- dead Tekuak and stooped before its corpse. "A fate for a monster wanting a hell on Earth... Does even the most vile of creatures deserve such a punishment?" Umei looked above the body to see a date above the wall. From the looks of it, Tekuak was born, and died, on the same day. A day that had the same date as the day today. Umei's mouth was left agape as Yuugi finally stomached his terror and stumbled over to the blonde vixen.  
  
"It means...?"  
  
"I don't know..." Umei whispered, "This is what we will have to deal with while we're here? Our only company is a carcass and each other. Tekuak really was taught a lesson, Tekuak was taught how arrogant and naïve humans are and how easily they are conned!"  
  
Even Yuugi began to lose hope from Umei's words.  
  
"We're stuck here with a body whose spirit probably wanders on outside of this prison"  
  
"We're stuck while three other beings of Tekuak lurk within three other hosts..." Yuugi added.  
  
"We're stuck here with questions unanswered!" Umei ripped the Egyptian eye off her choker and clutched it in her hands. "I don't know what this is!? What does it do! What is its name!?"  
  
"... Anubis Girandole...." The skeleton of Tekuak lifted its head up and moaned the name of Umei's item.  
  
"EEPE!" Umei yelped as she jumped into Yuugi's arms and knocked them both over.  
  
"A candleholder?!"  
  
The skeleton's joints began to jerk about as it tried to stand. Its eyes shone a brilliant yellow and the bony fingers of its arms reached out for the two teenagers. The mouth of the being began to move and speak in the same voice of the raspy Tekuak they knew all too well. "... Wish me what with candles..."  
  
"Ah Yuugi!" Umei was screaming like a little kid, I guess your true self really shows in the face of danger... Umei was afraid of corpses?! Yuugi shrugged and tried to think of what the zombified Tekuak meant, but it was rather hard to get pass the screaming and nudging Yuugi received from Umei.  
  
"I know it!" Yuugi snapped his fingers.  
  
"Know what! Speak fast!" Umei was all over Yuugi as the decrepit flesh of Tekuak mangled around Umei's wrists and thighs. "Ecchi!" Umei slapped at Tekuak's jaw and felt her own hand break through into its mouth. The very leathery tongue of Tekuak licked around Umei's fingertips. "Yamete! Bakayaro! YAMETE!  
  
"Happy Birthday Tekuak!" Yuugi shouted through all the clamor. The bones collapsed to the floor and were without movement. Umei on the other hand collapsed to the side of Yuugi and wouldn't stop panting.  
  
Yuugi pushed her off him and stood up, he bowed but then grabbed hold of Umei's arms and brought her to her feet. He whispered "bow" to her and she did, though trying to regain her sedated aura.  
  
"Happy Birthday." They both hummed in harmony. The room began to disintegrate in the same way it had for Yuugi when he had been to a room exactly like this one in his mind. The entire seen grew light and the twosome began to fade from sight.  
  
"To think, the only way out of exile was to give an enemy a friendly greeting..." Yuugi guffawed.  
  
Umei traced her fingers over her Egyptian totem. "My Anubis Girandole..."  
  
"See what we learn... Enemies aren't at all what you believe them to be."  
  
Umei coughed and grew a stern tone. "Uhm, Yuugi... I think it be best that no one knows about my... phobia... Once we're out of here I'm going back to the way I was."  
  
Yuugi's expression grew a little worried.  
  
"Well... only a smidgen of the way I was..." Umei stuck her tongue out at him. Both of them disappeared completely as the white light illuminated the entire scene. The scene would have been left silent if it hadn't been for Umei's little whine: "My hat!"  
  
---  
  
In the real world; however, things seemed to be back to normal though not for the quartet that stood on the isolated part of the island. Not one was possessing a happy demeanor. Anzu whimpered next to Honda who seemed to be praying while Jounouchi went through Yuugi's cards over and over again shouting "Yuugi, Yuugi, Yuugi." Mesmori, on the other hand, was standing on the bridge that brought them there and looked rather impatient.  
  
"It's sad really..." Mesmori spoke out, "That your friend lost the duel and her life, I thought she was an unbeatable duelist?"  
  
Mesmori's words woke Jounouchi from his trance, stopped Anzu from crying, and jerked Honda away from his praise. In a matter of seconds, they were all hunched over Mesmori and yelling in her face.  
  
"Yuugi is not dead!" Anzu shrieked.  
  
"He won!" Honda growled.  
  
"You know nothing about him!" Jounouchi roared.  
  
"He saved my own life!" Anzu cried.  
  
"He saved us all!" Honda fumed.  
  
"He saved you!" Jounouchi howled.  
  
"Where's your sympathy!" They all finished together.  
  
"He? Him? Wha?" Mesmori looked rather confused but just as soon as she spoke her eyes sparkled while she pointed towards the center of the peak. "OMEGOSH! Look!" The group turned towards where Mesmori pointed and soon their own eyes began to sparkle with amazement.  
  
A pale light began to beam upward as debris from the fight went up in the air as well. Yuugi's and Umei's cards that were once on the floor were now separated from each other in the air and began to form back in their own respected decks. From the light, Yuugi and Umei emerged through the ground and once the beam ended, Yuugi and Umei fell to the ground.  
  
The entire quartet, even Mesmori, were all too stunned to move. Yuugi's deck fluttered down back in his hand as did Umei's. It was Yuugi that got up from the ground and helped Umei up. It was also Yuugi who broke the silence and said: "You okay?"  
  
Yuugi and Umei both looked behind them at the eyes that stared at them and Umei just had to say: "Is there something wrong with them or are they just scared stiff?"  
  
"YUUGI!" Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu screamed to the top of their lungs so loud that all of Duelist Kingdom could have heard them.  
  
"Guess not..." Umei gasped as she was shoved aside and watched Yuugi get tackled by his friends. It was Anzu who got to Yuugi first and embraced him in a hug.  
  
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Anzu giggled.  
  
"Don't act like you were the only one who worried!" Jounouchi hugged both Anzu and Yuugi.  
  
"Dun leave me out!" Honda squeezed into the group hug.  
  
"Glad to see you too guys." Yuugi joined in the laughter.  
  
Mesmori was glued to her spot as she stared at Umei with admiring eyes. Umei peered over at Mesmori for the longest but then suddenly shrugged and looked back at Yuugi. Mesmori began to walk over to Umei in a daze as her blue eyes sparkled more than usual.  
  
"Yuugi..." Umei called for him.  
  
Jounouchi quickly stuck up in Yuugi's defense. "What do you want! You got beat fair and square, I'm not partial to fighting girls but I could always make an exception!" Jounouchi threatened as he cracked his knuckles.  
  
"Just go while you can." Honda backed his friend up.  
  
"Stay back Yuugi." Anzu said along with the rest of them.  
  
"Guys it's okay." Yuugi pushed through his friends. "Umei decided a change was in order after our little escapade in Tekuak's tomb."  
  
"HUH?" The gang looked a little puzzled at what Yuugi was talking about.  
  
"Yuugi don't brag about it. I already apologized for acting the way I did so we can let bygones be bygones." Umei laughed.  
  
"WHU?" The gang gasped again.  
  
"It may take a while for you guys to trust me but I will try and not act as false as I make myself out to be. I take full responsibility for cheating and I believe I should repay you..." Umei held out her left hand.  
  
"WHOA WHOA!" Jounouchi finally said not in harmony with the group. "You admit to cheating?!"  
  
"I read your thoughts, and I already apologized so don't expect me to do it again, I'm not your answering machine." Umei jerked something before Jounouchi and let it drop into his hands. "It's your star chips."  
  
Jounouchi was even more confused than before.  
  
"So Umei, with this change of heart you are showing, are you going to decide to come along with us?" Yuugi asked. "It would be good to learn more about a duelist as good as you."  
  
"Thanks but I'm not completely soft ya know. I have a total rep to maintain. But anyway..." Umei turned towards the others and said to them individually, "Anzu-san, sorry about killing you, it wasn't completely my decision. Honda-san, uhm, nice to meet you. Katsuya..."  
  
Jounouchi crossed his arms and began to tap his foot while he waited for his apology "It's Jounouchi to you..."  
  
Umei bowed, "Hope to duel you again..." she glanced at Yuugi, "and I hope to make it as honorable as it should be."  
  
Yuugi nodded.  
  
"And you too Yuugi, I expect to duel you again and win without cheating, i.g., the battlefield Tekuak used and how I manipulated you." Umei flipped her hair and noticed that her hat was back where it should be. "My hat!" Umei squealed with glee.  
  
"You didn't win anyway..." Jounouchi spat out still peeved at her.  
  
Umei sneered at Jounouchi. "Even after this, you still don't forgive me?"  
  
The group sighed as Jounouchi was about to say something but noticed that Umei was already walking away.  
  
"I'll make you forgive me... when we encounter each other once again... Ja ne." Umei called back without turning towards the gang. As she brushed passed Mesmori she gave a stare in her direction; Mesmori still had a look of adoration towards the older girl. Umei winked at Mesmori and continued onward and into the fog the bridge had contained around it.  
  
Mesmori just about died as she fell to the ground.  
  
"Yuugi you have a lot of explaining to do..." Honda groaned and itched his head--the rest of the posse ignored Mesmori.  
  
"Yeah, but we have a lot of time to catch up on that." Yuugi smiled as he looked at Anzu. "Glad you're okay..."  
  
Anzu chortled as her cheeks heated up a bit. "Oh Yuugi don't worry about me, I wanna know where you've been."  
  
"And I wanna know about your escapade with Umei!" Jounouchi grew a maniacal expression since it didn't take him long to revert back to his same old personage.  
  
"Ugh... Jounouchi!" Anzu shook her head in disappointment.  
  
Yuugi laughed but then noticed that Mesmori was blocking their way from exiting the battleground.  
  
"What gives?" Jounouchi grew a little frustrated.  
  
"How could you just let her leave like that!" Mesmori began to yell at them.  
  
The group was speechless.  
  
"The Great Umei Jopa Crawford! Vigilante of East Domino High, the Divinity of Duels, Domineer Maestro of the Cards Umei Jopa Crawford! Right in my presence! And she graced upon me! She practically praised me!" Mesmori ranted on and on, she started fantasizing and tried speaking like Umei: "Oh Mesmori, why couldn't I have seen it before, you are truly better than me, teach me teach me!" Mesmori's ramblings didn't stop there as she began talking in her own voice again, "I wanted to catch up to her and I finally did! I will prove to her that I am worthy of being her apprentice! Mesmori Matouchi, Apprentice of the Maestro of the Cards! HAHA!"  
  
The group was still at a loss for words.  
  
"I thought she was your friend you were cheering for! But then you abandon her for him! Just because he won (um, sorry Yuugi-chan but I worshipped Umei for a longer time even longer than I had met you on the boat)! Even though she looked different, I knew it was her, I knew it was my Umei!" Mesmori shunned them.  
  
The group finally realized what Mesmori was talking about. She thought they were rooting for Umei this whole time and not Yuugi, what a confused kid.  
  
"Furthermore did you know that Umei has once—" Mesmori prattled on and on but soon found herself talking to no one. "Hey where'd they go?!!"  
  
Yuugi and his group were already walking on the bridge.  
  
"Geez, what a strange boy! He must really wanna date Umei..." Jounouchi shuddered.  
  
Everyone halted and stared at Jounouchi rather bemused.  
  
"Nani?" Jounouchi looked around dumbfounded.  
  
All at once they shouted to their friend, "YOU THOUGHT SHE WAS A BOY!?"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
I was lying there not wanting to awaken. My eyelids were heavy and my head throbbed with pain, most of all, my throat was parched and it burned ferociously. I brought my knees to my chest as I lay on my left side while my nose picked up the aroma of clean leather. I was too restless to go back to sleep, but I didn't want to awake t see where I was. I did know I was in a car from the smell of it, though not only a car but a limousine. Furthermore, the limousine was not in motion and now I was even more tempted in to knowing whose limousine it was. I slit my eyes open hoping to see my father sitting in the opposite seat before me, but instead I saw him.  
  
Kaiba Seto sat there gazing out the window; he didn't look like himself at all. He didn't notice me watching him so attentively. I brought my jade eyes open fully and laid there, just watching him. I watched as he exhaled, I watched as he inhaled, I watched him just gaze off out the window and into the retreating night sky. The pale dawn light from the outside radiated through the windows of the limousine and lit up his countenance and his navy blue uniform. He was in fact the most ravishing, the most gorgeous I had ever seen him at that given moment. I wanted to remember this moment.  
  
But then I remembered how we fought... how we always fought. We never stopped arguing and we never stopped falling into the most embarrassing predicaments with each other. I remembered how he didn't want anymore to do with me and how he didn't want me to bother him or Mokuba again. Was he just enraged at losing against Yuugi or did he really mean it this time?  
  
I shivered from how cold it had gotten. That's when I realized I was still in my East Domino high uniform. The sapphire eyes of my once beloved turned to me and he asked in a tone so tranquil for him to dwell on, "Are you still tired? If you're cold I can take you home now, or to my place, whichever you want."  
  
I brought my head up and rested on my elbows. "I'm okay... Where are we?"  
  
"Kaibaland parking lot... Mokuba is at home asleep, the chauffeur for the moment is on his break." Seto unzipped his blazer and handed it to me. "Here, even if you aren't cold, better safe than sorry."  
  
My gray hat fell to the seat as I sat up. I groped it gently and brought it around my body, much better, though I didn't want to admit it. I stared back up at him, this time his eyes were locked with mine. He was so distraught, so pensive, as if me being in his presence tormented him.. He never acted like this before, did Yuugi really change him this much. Why wasn't he boasting about dueling Yuugi again? Why was he being so particular towards me? He never acted so devotedly attached, he always treated me independently.  
  
I lifted myself up from my seat and crashed down besides him; shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip. I couldn't look back at him, though I knew he was looking down at me. What do you say to someone who wanted to end your "friendship" but then wanted to begin it again?  
  
I buried my face in his broad shoulder to the right of me. "Seto... I'm confused right now..." I muttered. How could he still be so warm? I was wearing his coat though he was still quite heated from his thin white undershirt. He was an exquisite person indeed.  
  
Seto didn't respond to me, instead he trailed his left hand over my shoulder and bent his head down so his forehead was next to mine. "I want to remember this... You aren't the same person anymore, I'm not the same person anymore..."  
  
"Seto..." I began to say but his right hand brushed my auburn blanched hair from my face. I wanted to remember this too but I just had to say it, I had to let him know that I was still the same old me.  
  
I swallowed my dismay and told him. "You are the only one who has changed, I will always be this way, I will never better my life from what it is now. But you, you change everyday and it makes me realize that I don't really know you anymore when I use to know you so intimately. I'm stopping you from furthering your accomplishments in life. Seto, I think we should not be acquainted with each other anymore."  
  
And then I held my breath as my heart drummed on.  
  
Seto didn't bring his forehead from mine, he just closed his eyes. And we sat there like that until the chauffeur returned, and that was when Seto had whispered to me, "I agree..."  
  
---  
  
To Be Continued 


	6. Dene is Betrothed to Umei?

~Previously on Yugiou; "I know it was her," a peeved tone spat out, "It wreaks of her, I know it is her! She tried to kill me! I know I know! I saw it! I saw her! For the while I was dead, I saw her! Temee! She dueled as if she could win! That entire duel! That boy! Those monsters! But how could I see all that? How could I see her? Wie!? A connection perhaps? A connection by a thread? A thread of an inevitable outcome! I, and only I, am destined to kill her!"  
  
"Leave me alone!" It was as if Umei's body became one with the darkness as she disappeared into the void.  
  
"You... You are calling me a false person..." Umei had a hurt personage strike her face. "Everyone does..."  
  
"He? It was a she? Wasn't it?" Yuugi's sclera widened and made his pupils grew small.  
  
"Androgynous. Man and Woman in the same body and similar features. A Hermaphrodite. But that's besides the point," Umei continued as Yuugi was rather bewildered to hear about such a thing for the first time. "While I slept that night, the night I was attacked and rescued by you, she kept calling to me—"Umei affected her voice in a low and raspy town, "—Stop me and I take you with me, banish me and I take you with me, disobey me and your loved ones will be tortured forever, I can make you do such acts without your knowing... you'll wake up everyday wondering what you have done... murder, thievery, rape..."  
  
Those kind, purple eyes of Yuugi mesmerized Umei as a lone tear slid down her cheek. "Unbelievable, there is only one you in all the world, and the only person that anyone would want to have as their company, though luckily, I get you all to myself." Umei came away from Yuugi, leaving his hands suspended in air from where her shoulders have been. She stood.  
  
Yuugi grew a little paranoid at Umei's statement and began to sweat. 'All to herself?!'  
  
'Mmhmm... that's right.' Umei's thoughts went through Yuugi's.  
  
Umei reached for her red beanie atop her head and dropped it to the floor as it disturbed the dust particles around it. She waved her head from side to side and let her brownish-blonde locks fall to her shoulders.  
  
Yuugi began to sweat now as his eyes shrunk and the veins in his eyes began to pulse. "U-mm-Umei!" Yuugi stuttered.  
  
Umei brought her hands behind her neck and began to fiddle with something. "Yuugi I want you—"  
  
"To think, the only way out of exile was to give an enemy a friendly greeting..." Yuugi guffawed.  
  
Umei traced her fingers over her Egyptian totem. "My Anubis Girandole..."  
  
"See what we learn... Enemies aren't at all what you believe them to be." ~  
  
-  
  
A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode Six: Something New, Something Old, Something Borrowed, Something Blue—Dene is Betrothed to Umei?  
  
-  
  
"Whoa, all that really happened?" Anzu said walking beside Yuugi as she listened to Yuugi reminisce on his experience with Umei.  
  
"Yea, Umei really isn't all that bad you know." Yuugi kept walking but noticed the rest of his group wasn't so he turned to see what was wrong. "Anzu? Honda, Jounouchi?"  
  
Anzu, holding her shoulders, shivered a bit. Jounouchi shook his head, doubting Yuugi's words. Honda on the other hand just pretended he didn't hear Yuugi's question by looking off into the distance as if he were looking for something.  
  
"Come on guys, you can't judge her so quickly, I mean she was influenced, and controlled, by an entirely different being. She shouldn't be held responsible for what someone else did. She doesn't look like the sort of person that would want to harm anyone, does she?"  
  
"YES!" the three hummed all at once as Yuugi just itched his head.  
  
"Just try and give her a chance, she said she was sorry so that is a sign that she wants to change. She even gave you back your star chips, Jou-kun."  
  
Jounouchi snapped his head at Yuugi and began to shout at Yuugi, "She cheated, she killed someone, two people actually! Remember that other person that must have died before Anzu! Why do you want to stick up for her, we worried about you and now all you do is talk about Umei. She may have been controlled but the way I see it, all the blood is on her hands anyway, not anyone else's! If this were a trial, the jury would find her insane!"  
  
"Jounouchi!" Anzu warned him to stop.  
  
"I gave you a chance didn't I?" Yuugi whispered rather calmly, as Jounouchi stood startled. "And you gave me a chance. I showed you I could be strong by doing something my own way. You showed me that you weren't as nefarious as you wanted everyone to think you were. Sound familiar. Like you, Umei has a completely different, softer side too."  
  
Honda and Anzu now diverted their eyes to Jounouchi to hear his comeback but instead he said, "Yuugi... I don't know."  
  
Anzu and Honda turned their eyes to Yuugi now. Yuugi turned around, his back facing Jounouchi, "If you dueled her again you would see, she offered to duel you again without using her telepathy, maybe you'll see then, maybe she'll show you who she really is like she showed me."  
  
Anzu and Honda turned their eyes back towards Jounouchi again. Jounouchi huffed, "I'll try to give her a... chance, ugh."  
  
"I hope you all give her a chance." Yuugi said as he continued to walk, not seeing Anzu and Honda nod in agreement—Jounouchi glared at them to make them stop.  
  
"Uh Yuu-chan! One more thing!" Jounouchi shouted a little peeved.  
  
"What now Jounouchi?!" Yuugi, Anzu, and Honda sighed in unison.  
  
Jounouchi glanced behind him; "Do you want me to give the GIRL, Matouchi Mesmori, another chance? Did you spend sometime with her to preach about giving her a chance too?! She hasn't shut up yet!"  
  
It was true, Mesmori was still following Yuugi and his friends, she was also still jabbering on about every little detail she knew about the "great" Umei Jopa Crawford.  
  
"—And then there was the first time I saw her, she gained so many enemies, so many followers, so many unworthy groupies! Not that there is anything wrong with unworthy groupies! But I know I'm worthy! I know I know! Then I watched as her 'non-boyfriend-anymore' dueled you", Mesmori pointed at Yuugi, "The Marvelous-not-as-great-as-Umei Yuugi Motou!"  
  
"NOT AS GREAT!" Jounouchi tried to mumble but it came out as a shout.  
  
"Then the arrogant-and-foolish Kaiba Seto broke up with her because he was too blind to see what he was doing! How could he let the Great Umei Jopa Crawford leave like that! He taught her everything she knows but now he abandons her! Just like you abandoned her for Yuugi!"  
  
The group was speechless. Mesmori was about to open her mouth again but Jounouchi had to stop her.  
  
Mesmori blabbed, "Now Umei is in this tournament to prove to her father that—"  
  
Jounouchi butted in, "What are you talking about! We never were on Umei's side to begin with, we were cheering for YUUGI! Did you not just listen to what we were talking about just now! Do you think Umei would like you to give out all her information like that! And whoa! You were in that coliseum! That was you I saw! Seto and Umei! WAH! I just found out you were a girl and now you surprise me again with more information!" he began to shake Mesmori vigorously—She would have fallen to the ground if Jounouchi weren't holding onto her the way he did fore her back was arched upward towards him and she couldn't get proper footing as he leaned even more forward.  
  
"Can we just move on." Anzu held her head getting irritated.  
  
"We can talk about this while we find another duelist to challenge right?" Honda finally said something.  
  
"Jounouchi calm down." Yuugi coaxed as his friend kept shaking Mesmori.  
  
Jounouchi peered back at Yuugi and growled, "Oi, oi, she said something about Seto and Umei, she was talking too fast for me to hear it but I wanna know what else she—"  
  
As soon as Jounouchi turned back to glare at Mesmori, he realized he was glaring into the very pit of a black revolver with 'Schwarz' written on the barrel in silver. The firearm was directly over Mesmori's forehead but Jounouchi was too busy staring into the gun to notice the proprietor of it. Jounouchi was too stunned to move, so stunned he lost hold of Mesmori as she fell to the ground right on her rump. Everyone else couldn't budge as they watched Jounouchi seconds from certain death—Honda and Anzu both had their mouths gaping open while Yuugi's eyes were widened so much you could possibly see his skull. Mesmori, on the other hand, laid in the dirt gazing up at her fellow East Domino High student.  
  
"Don—Don't, please, don't shoot!" Yuugi pleaded.  
  
The female with the ebony, shoulder length hair didn't move her gun from Jounouchi's brown eyes. "Get up." She hissed. Jounouchi straightened himself; at the same time the pistol followed Jounouchi's movement.  
  
"What do you want." Yuugi tried to say as calm as he could, he was the only one that seemed brave enough to speak.  
  
The intruder clicked the trigger of her gun back—this caused Jounouchi to start sweating even more and forget how to speak as he mumbled for mercy.  
  
"Umei, where is she?" The woman said with a sedated tone and looked down at Jounouchi superciliously.  
  
"I dun un know who you arrrre talking abo abo—" Jounouchi found his words as he was on the verge of tears.  
  
"Do you really want to lie to someone who gives you the offer to live." The woman brought the gun under Jounouchi's chin as she grabbed him by his dirty blonde hair with her free hand and pushed him down towards her. "If you don't tell me what I want to hear then I start killing off each one of you..." her tone remained tranquil.  
  
Yuugi noticed her duelist glove on her right hand, the hand that held the gun. He quickly blurted out, "Why don't we settle this in a duel."  
  
The black-haired woman blinked at Yuugi. She backed away, Jounouchi going with her. She twirled Jounouchi around until his back was against her body and her left hand coped over his neck. Her gun was in Yuugi's direction. "This is not about dueling, I just need to find Umei. And I certainly will not listen to the advice of someone who sounds rather castrated. " She then turned the gun back to Jounouchi. "And I'll kill anyone who won't be truthful with me, you know, people who aren't truthful, should be punished." And with that, the firearm went off.  
  
"JOUNOUCHI!" Everyone screamed as birds flocked away from the scene that suddenly grew silent.  
  
A bog of smoke from the gun filled the air and a 'thump' was heard. No one dared to move.  
  
The smoke cleared and everyone was shocked to see who had saved Jounouchi's life. Mesmori stood beside the woman and the hostage; her fingers were grasping the gun upward to the sky. As if on cue, a bird fell to the ground in front of Anzu and Honda, it was shot right through the heart from the woman's bullet.  
  
"Don't hurt Jou-sama." Mesmori's eyes sparkled with tears flowing everywhere. "I know you are permanently wicked but just this once, don't harm him!"  
  
The woman let go of Jounouchi who fainted to the floor automatically, unable to dwell on Mesmori's kind words she had said about him. Mesmori let go of the gun and dropped to the floor, holding Jounouchi. The woman pointed her gun to Mesmori and said for once in an enraged tone. "Matouchi, of all people I would love to kill. I knew you looked familiar, you thought you could elude being recognized by dressing in THAT way. Wherever you went, Umei wasn't too close behind. If I kill you, my bait, Umei would most definitely come looking for me out of revenge. I don't see why she would care, one more fan not admiring her, and more to fear me."  
  
Mesmori lost her split second of courage and whined, "Don't hurt me, AH!" She shielded herself with Jounouchi's unconscious body.  
  
"Enough!" Yuugi's Millennium Puzzle began to glow as his spiritual partner took over. "There has been too many deaths. The ones that died were brought back but this time, no one would be spared. I warn you now, you fire that weapon again and you will pay." Yami Yuugi began to step forward.  
  
Dene looked up to face Yami Yuugi. "To think I was one of the ones that died and came back."  
  
"Nani?!" Yami Yuugi stopped in his tracks.  
  
"You were the one that defeated that underdog, Umei. I was meant to be the one to defeat her, to kill her. You ruined part of my destiny. I have every right to kill you now--" Dene began to laugh as she stepped away from Mesmori and Jounouchi. Now she began to waltz over to Yami Yuugi with her firearm inches from his chest.  
  
Yami Yuugi closed his eyes as Dene placed her weapon right by Yami Yuugi's heart; Anzu and Honda were both hugging each other for dear life and praying that nothing bad would happen.  
  
"But..." Dene brought her pistol away from Yami Yuugi and placed her left hand over her huge, dark blue tote bag and opened it. She replaced her weapon with what looked like a crimson cape with a fuzzy orange material stitched around the top of it.  
  
Yami Yuugi looked a little puzzled.  
  
"My destiny is not with killing you, I have to keep my engagement with Umei." Anzu and Honda began to cry from relief at what Dene had just said. "Besides, someone else is destined to kill you anyway." Anzu and Honda began to blink.  
  
Yami Yuugi relaxed, "Someone else?"  
  
"Where's Umei." Dene ignored Yami Yuugi while she attached her red cape over her right shoulder and only her right shoulder. "You see what Umei has done." Dene brought out her old East Domino High uniform from her bag. "It's tattered and stained with my blood. I was the one killed during your duel with her, torn to pieces it seems."  
  
Yami Yuugi glimpsed at Dene's attire. Besides her entire right side of her body being covered by her cloak, she wore a long black skirt with slits on both sides to where you could see her pantyhose and lilac garter belt with little smiley faces dotted over it. Her shirt was quite unusual. She wore a long-sleeve, button-up see-through shirt; her black laced brassiere and pearly white corset completely visible to all. Furthermore, it was very strange to see someone walk around on this rough terrain in clear, six-inch heels.  
  
Dene placed her uniform back in her bag. "Now no more delay, where's the underdog."  
  
"We saw her for the last time, walking towards the cliffs over to the beaches. That's all we know." Yami Yuugi finally told her.  
  
Dene looked off in the direction out of the forest they stood in at the moment—she cupped her fingers around her spiked choker and said, "So new to me, a chance at a new life against that underdog. So old to me, this cloak as a tradition handed down to every third born child in my family. So borrowed to me, the wondrous weapon given idea to me by my older brother. But something blue, I have not yet obtained."  
  
Yami Yuugi was a little confused while Anzu and Honda stood in the background a little dumbfounded. "Something new, something old, something borrowed, something blue?"  
  
Dene began to chuckle as she placed her hands over her bag. "That's right, once I acquire something blue it will be time for me and Umei's wedding."  
  
A shocked expression struck everyone's face, yes, even Mesmori. All of a sudden, the "unconscious" Jounouchi miraculously shot up from Mesmori's arms and was cackling about what had just fallen upon his ears. "Umei! YOU! But what about Seto?! WHU! No wonder Umei seems to dislike boys so much!"  
  
Mesmori went right along with him as she protested against what Dene had said. "No! Umei will not marry you! She won't she won't! You two are enemies! Terrible rivals! Fighting for eternity! You want to kill her, why marry her! YOU CAN'T!"  
  
Jounouchi muttered to himself so no one heard him, "Yea cuz you wanna marry her."  
  
Dene strolled past Yami Yuugi and halted behind him, he didn't turn to face her. "It will be a wedding, an engagement, a celebration of the end. I see how we will both end our lives, when I catch up to her it is over. She is the only one that will kill me, I am the only one that will kill her."  
  
'This is insane.' Honda thought.  
  
'This is the most bizarre day I have ever had.' Anzu thought.  
  
'Two appealing ladies getting married, I wanna see the honeymoon!' Jounouchi thought as he drifted off into his own world.  
  
"Hmm, it seems I have wasted too much time staying here, my 'groom' could be gone from the location you have given me." Dene brushed her bangs from her face.  
  
'Oi! Why does Umei have to be the groom! Oh yeh she's more tomboy than the more sensual Dene' Jounouchi shook his head at his own imagination.  
  
"And Yuugi," Dene attracted Yami Yuugi's attention as he turned to face her. "The one destined to kill you is someone you already know... very well."  
  
Yami Yuugi was tempted to ask but he knew Dene would not tell him. How was she able to discover how people would die? Was she born with an ESP like Umei? She didn't possess a millennium item or a totem like Umei so she had to be born with an ESP!  
  
"Little Matouchi..." Dene called as she began to walk away.  
  
"Hai?" Mesmori gasped a little hesitant.  
  
Dene stopped again and quarter-turned to the group, "A message for you, 'He' sees you right now, 'He' knows you had the chance to do it. But if you listen to 'Him', if you kill her before I 'marry' her, I will kill you."  
  
"..." Mesmori's eyes lost their sparkle, for that instant the only person Mesmori thought about was that stranger that confronted her on that night. She knew who he really was now. That fated night that Mesmori got a chance to catch up to the one person she admired so much. Mesmori's legs lost their balance and she fell to the floor dazzled at what Dene had said. There was only one thought that traced through Mesmori's mind now, 'That's right, Dene is his...'  
  
Dene sniggered an awkward chuckle that left the entire group staring at her as she strode away--her laugh being the last thing heard as she walked off into the direction out of the forest.  
  
The group stood there, wondering about the mysterious Dene. The Dene that was murderous, the Dene that wanted to marry Umei Jopa Crawford, the Dene that was crazy to walk around in six-inch heels.  
  
---  
  
'Why didn't I kill him! Why didn't I kill her! Damn you Mesmori. Why does he fancy you so much, you are so weak, so undeserving! And that Yuugi... He interfered, why should I leave him to 'you' to kill!' Dene pondered. The exit out of the forest shouldn't be too far away from where she was, but the further she walked the darker it seemed to get.  
  
"I'm coming, underdog. You better wait for me!" Dene looked down at her duelist glove—still just two star chips. Even Mesmori had five. She wasn't into dueling anyone at all, she only came to this tournament to find Umei and that was it She didn't care for the prize money or the granted request you got from Pegasus if you beat him. She mainly didn't care about the 'special division' at least eight top duelists making it to the final round had to compete in. Well, maybe this special division did interest her; what could this special reward for the 'top eight' duelists of Duelist Kingdom be?  
  
Dene was taken away from her thoughts about Umei, murder, and the special division when she glanced at the most beautiful sight she had ever seen that had befallen her eyes. No it was impossible, her yellow eyes must have been playing tricks on her! Standing at the exit of the forest, 30 yards away from her, illuminated in the golden rays of the sun, was a man. Not someone who was still in high school like she was, someone much older. She had seen him on the television. He was once the best American duelist around. Like herself, he too had lost to a person of the Crawford family, he had lost to Pegasus J. Crawford! Damn the Crawford generation!  
  
His back was facing Dene as his head was turned looking directly at her, the shades covering his eyes made him even more arousing to Dene. Stubble was dotted over his chin and jaw while his bandanna that resembled the American flag covered his blonde hair.  
  
Dene fell in love with him the first time she saw him on the television, seeing him on the boat so distant from her and so many people present made her heart flutter, but seeing him so close, and alone, made a pain strike through her heart this time. Dene held her chest. He began to walk away, away from the light of the opening out of the forest. She wouldn't let him get away. Dene raced down the path, her heart beating so fast that it was in step with her feet. Not only would she find her Umei Jopa Crawford, she would find her 'angel' as well.  
  
---  
  
To Be Continued  
  
---  
  
That was the wicked girl, lingering in the shadows behind you. With the love of guns and death. Always with that maniacal expression, gazing at you menacingly. She has a tendency for shooting anyone who refuses to tell her what she wants to know, she has a tendency for shooting anyone who fails her. Everyone knows there's something wrong with her mentally; what could have possibly fascinated her with a girl so much she would stalk her every move, what could have influenced her into making guns for a living. Her only wish is to die with her koibito, which is her destiny she is able to see. No one else she possibly wants more than in the world—killing anyone who is in the presence of her and her koibito. That was the wicked girl, lingering in the shadows behind you... aiming the guns she made for her entire family directly at you... bang 


	7. I Hate Water, But I Love You

~Previously on Yugiou; "Come on guys, you can't judge her so quickly, I mean she was influenced, and controlled, by an entirely different being. She shouldn't be held responsible for what someone else did. She doesn't look like the sort of person that would want to harm anyone, does she?"  
  
Jounouchi peered back at Yuugi and growled, "Oi, oi, she said something about Seto and Umei, she was talking too fast for me to hear it but I wanna know what else she—"  
  
As soon as Jounouchi turned back to glare at Mesmori, he realized he was glaring into the very pit of a black revolver with 'Schwarz' written on the barrel in silver.  
  
"Don't hurt Jou-sama." Mesmori's eyes sparkled with tears flowing everywhere.  
  
"My destiny is not with killing you, I have to keep my engagement with Umei." Anzu and Honda began to cry from relief at what Dene had just said. "Besides, someone else is destined to kill you anyway." Anzu and Honda began to blink.  
  
Yami Yuugi relaxed, "Someone else?"  
  
"And Yuugi," Dene attracted Yami Yuugi's attention as he turned to face her. "The one destined to kill you is someone you already know... very well."  
  
Yami Yuugi was tempted to ask but he knew Dene would not tell him. How was she able to discover how people would die? Was she born with an ESP like Umei?  
  
"Little Mesmori..." Dene called as she began to walk away.  
  
"Hai?" Mesmori gasped a little hesitant.  
  
Dene stopped again and quarter-turned to the group, "A message for you, 'He' sees you right now, 'He' knows you had the chance to do it. But if you listen to 'Him', if you kill her before I 'marry' her, I will kill you."  
  
~  
  
-  
  
A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode Seven: I Hate Water, But I Love You  
  
-  
  
Dene emerged from the forest, the sun beaming down on her lightly tanned skin. She brought her palm to her forehead as she tried to shield her eyes and become aware to her surroundings. Around her was more and more trees, but before her however, was the end of the island, nothing but cliffs and ridges for miles. Where did he go! Where did Keith Howard, no, 'Bandit' Keith Howard, go?  
  
"Not only is he here, nor is that underdog!" Dene fumed at the same time she clutched her fists. "When I see them again, both Motou and Matouchi will die no matter what." She was about to reach for her bag and pull out her gun when her eyes peeked at what was so significant about the area before her. By the edge of the cliff was a small fire contained in a circle of rocks. Three fish kabobs on some sticks were being roasted by the flame and smelled quite pleasing to Dene. She was lured to them because she hadn't eaten anything since her breakfast back on land at her home in the East Domino district—and the only thing she had eaten for breakfast was Colby cheese on a sandwich roll.  
  
Her heels clicked over to the meal, she wobbled a bit since the area was very jagged. Around the fire was very large stones in a circle. They were large enough for her to sit on one so she did. Dene fanned herself for a bit because the sun continued to shine harshly down on her and she knew she was perspiring a bit.  
  
"I need a drink." Dene reached into her tote bag and pulled out a full bottle of hard lemonade. She engulfed half the bottle in one gulp and wiped off the corners of her mouth. "I better salvage some of this, it's the last bottle out of twelve I got left."  
  
Dene began to whirl the bottle around, making its contents splash about. She stared down at the fish and began to make a disgusted countenance. "If I weren't hungry I wouldn't eat this trout. Eck. Detestable, even more detestable than my Umei Jopa Crawford." Dene looked out into the sea. Sea gulls hovered over her and were screeching for food. The noise from the birds got on her nerves so much she just had to stand up and shout, "Damn birds, shut the hell up! I need this more than you!' She threw her bottle at one of them and hit it head on as it fell into the sea. "AH! My last one!" Dene shrieked. "Man oh man, I wanted to pour some of that on MY fish." She slouched back down, obviously she didn't care whose fish it was, it was hers now anyway.  
  
"Ugh, I hate the ocean."  
  
---  
  
'What was that?' I thought. I was standing on the bottom of the ocean floor examining the kinds of fish that roamed here on this magnificent island. The water was beautiful here, it was very lively and very pure too. A lot of fish swam every which-way and the sea floor was so glorious. But I brought my self back up to the surface for air. As soon as my head emerged from the cool water, something fell on my head. It was rather soft and I took it off my head to study it.  
  
"A bird?" but suddenly, something else fell on my head, this time much harder. I was knocked senseless for a few seconds and choked on the water that entered my mouth as I brought myself back up from the water.  
  
"A bottle?!"  
  
I removed the goggles from my eyes and sat them on my head. Who in the world would throw this stuff down here? I was too famished to think right now, that person's loss was my gain. "Well I am quite hungry, and these three crabs will go great with my three fishes. Now I can have this bird to add to my lunch, and this thing is still a little bit full. Who knows, maybe I'll find a duelist to duel while I eat."  
  
I clamped my spear into my mouth, the three crabs dangling with the little life still in them since they were skewered onto the spear. I brought my hands over the rocks that stuck out on the cliff wall and began to climb up, only thinking of the delicious meal I would soon be feasting upon.  
  
---  
  
"Water, the ocean, the sea, the lake, the pond, those damn creatures that live in the water, but most of all... I HATE THOSE SEA GULLS!" Dene screamed. The birds were still squawking over her very head. "Will you go away!"  
  
---  
  
"Huh? There's that voice again? Someone's up there..." I murmured to myself as I began to climb faster,. "And from the sound of it.... It's a girl!"  
  
---  
  
Dene flopped back down to her seat, she finally got the buzzards to fly to some other location. She saw their feathers lying everywhere, and the more she watched the feathers, the more it reminded her of those bastard birds of the sea.  
  
"Maybe it's just the sun that is getting to me. Blast it, so hot." Dene panted. "I can't take it anymore." She puffed and pushed her cape off her shoulders along with the strap of her tote bag. Dene then started unbuttoning her see-through shirt and threw it by her cape. "I'm still too hot." Dene reached behind her and was about to remove her corset when she noticed a shadow looming over her. She shot her head up to look in the eyes of a man standing in blue, jean trousers and midnight-blue hair in a ponytail. A spear in his hand and a scar on his cheek made him even more intimidating to the female. In his other hand he held Dene's bottle of hard lemonade and the bird that was now dead. The sixteen-year-old female was at a loss for words.  
  
---  
  
I had to admit that I was dazed to see her. This girl sitting there, probably preparing to eat my lunch. I didn't realize that the spear or the duck and bottle of liquid fell to my feet. I could've fallen over the cliff because of my legs wobbling from seeing her if I hadn't kneeled down to pick up the items I dropped. For a second I wasn't looking into her eyes as I collected the stuff on the floor. I couldn't look into those eyes again, they were so beautiful, if I looked into those warm dusty honey eyes of hers again I might forget how to speak, or even worse, fish.  
  
Why was I acting this way, she was just a pretty face. She was a duelist as well, I should be challenging her to a duel. What was wrong with me? Maybe I was startled to see someone like her so quickly. The way she was dressed, how she was almost bare to me if I hadn't came up here so soon. Who knows, she might've taken off her bra along with her corset. Oh know, now I won't get THAT out of my mind. What if I have a THING right in front of her!  
  
I could hear my heart beat and I was rather worried that she might hear it too.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" she said swiftly. That voice I couldn't recognize, it wasn't sweet or melancholy. Her voice was unique, it was so different from any other. I grew a little paranoid as sweat broke out over my face. She could hear my heart beat!?!  
  
"How long are you going to kneel there?" She said calmly.  
  
I just noticed that I still didn't pick myself off the ground. My face flushed with embarrassment as I quickly jotted up and stepped forward, maybe I stood up too fast. As soon as I did, I tripped over the large stone in front of me and fell on my stomach. Now I was even more embarrassed. I shot up and sat down on my rock, I just sat there staring at the ground with my hands on my knees. Why was I acting this way.  
  
"I didn't know there would be perverts like you around." The female said as if the incident I just did never occurred. I glanced up at her but had to look away because she was staring directly at me. "You are terrible at being a pervert, you know."  
  
My eyes widened. What is she talking about, I could be a great pervert! Wait no!  
  
"Since you are so bad it doesn't bother me at all how I'm presented towards you." The ebony-haired woman continued to untie her corset and then she sat it by her shirt and cape. "Man this sun is deadly..." she leaned back and brought her left leg over her right one. As soon as she crossed her legs, a gale of wind rushed by and brought her black skirt upwards. I then noticed her garter belt. I knew I could feel blood inches away from streaming down my nose so I tried shifting my eyes into another direction, I even tried thinking about something else! But each time I tried I just remembered the smiley faces everywhere.  
  
"The sun may be deadly... but I am even more deadly, do you agree, pervert?" She leaned her head back now, she was just trying to make me feel this way. I grew furious at how she was able to act this way without thinking about the person, I finally regained my courage.  
  
"I am not a pervert. You're the one trying to get me to have a—" I cut myself off. I shouldn't say it, not to her.  
  
"Hm?" she brought her head down to face me and began to laugh. That laugh was even more unusual to me. "What's your name, pervert?"  
  
"Wha?" she wanted to know who I was! Why did this make me feel so... so.....  
  
"Am I going to have to keep calling you pervert or what?!"  
  
"Oh um, I'm Rajiki Kyouta, I mean, Kajiyouta Ryoki, wait, uh, Kajiki Ryouta! My name is Kajiki Ryouta!" Great, now I was gushing. I knew those extraordinary eyes were looking at me as if I were stupid so I quickly asked, "and you are the girl who was about to eat my fish."  
  
"Aw you already know, I'm Dene." She said, Dene said. What a fascinating name for such a fascinating person like Dene. "Besides, I rather eat that bird as revenge for its buddies making me go insane. God I hate the sea."  
  
"What! But the sea is such a marvel! All your worries can be taken away as soon as you are in the sea, if you are sailing on the sea. It is so tranquil on the sea, and under it is even more glamorous. It's like a whole different world full of majestic life. The sea came first to this world you know." Great, now I was gushing about the sea.  
  
Dene just stared at me, yep, she thought I was crazy. Dene uncrossed her legs and placed her elbows on her knees as her hands cupped her face. "So are you going to give me back my drink." Did she even listen to me?!  
  
I picked up the bottle at stared back up at her. I needed to start acting like myself, maybe I could get her to keep up a conversation with me if I toyed with her. It was worth a shot. "Oh this, well, I am quite thirty myself..." I laughed about to drink it.  
  
"Ryouta-koi don't you dare." She said still looking sedated.  
  
I stopped and removed the bottle from my mouth. Did she just call me 'Ryouta-koi'?! But I wasn't that intimate with her for her to use my first name, nor 'koi'!  
  
"Don't drink it, koibito..."  
  
"Okay, what's with you?!" I stood up and pointed at her. "what's all this koibito stuff!"  
  
"Why, anata, you say that to people when you love them."  
  
She was the one toying with me! She had a backup for everything! I had to show her, so, bottoms up. I took a huge gulp from the bottle, I regretted it in the end. If I knew it was hard lemonade I wouldn't have drunk it. My face scrunched up and I turned around and spat out the liquid.  
  
Dene giggled, "I told you not to now didn't I." I turned towards her and sat back down. Being in just her black skirt, spiked choker, and bra made me want her so much right now, I didn't know that I was rudely gawking at her bosoms. "Ahem, if you are going to look at me like that, pervert, then I'll have to also teach you a lesson for taking a drink of my own 'lunch'."  
  
Now it was time for pay back, though I didn't intentionally want to see her in pain. When Dene reached for a stick that the fish were held on, the fire had cracked and a spark fell over her index finger. She winced back in pain and cried, "Dammit!"  
  
As soon as I saw her reach for the fish I had already bolted over towards her when she shot her hand back in suffering. I was bending over her, my hands over her singed finger. I didn't know what my fingers were doing—they were massaging the palm of her hand and slowly tracing over her fingers.  
  
I heard a slight moan come from her as her calm expression became light and very adoring. I saw her eyes glisten at me and I knew if I didn't back away I would have kissed her.  
  
"Gomen... I shouldn't have—"  
  
"Ryouta-koi..." She brought her hands around my neck and began to caress my skin. She gazed up at me and drew me closer to her. My heart went pitter- patter and what was going to happen, but it soon sunk at what she said next, "Hey pervert, your ass is on fire, don't you feel that?"  
  
I quickly caught on to what she said and jumped up. My pants were aflame and I didn't know what to do—I just jumped around a waved my arms and legs everywhere. I felt Dene's hands grip my arm and bring me down beside her, the flame went out as soon as I hit the rock. I should have thanked her but I was too flushed to do so.  
  
"Do you act like this all the time, or is it my presence that made you act this way." Dene regained her sedated expression as she leaned on my shoulder. My heart could have stopped at any moment when I felt her hand come to rest over my knee. She began to move it upward and closer to my, ahem.  
  
"Do you act this way all the time, or do you just like seeing guys falter to you like this." I gasped.  
  
"I just act this way around you is all... Because I want you to act back." She stopped her hand over my thigh and right over the top of my pants. I just begged her to do what I wanted her to do. She gripped the top of my pants as my lungs got really tight, not to mention other places on my body got really tight too. Dene slipped her fingers under the top of my pants and I became petrified at how close she was to feeling my... my....  
  
"Hmm..." Dene sighed a little disappointed. "When you will act back, pervert, then you will have the pleasure of enjoying my touch." She brought her fingers from my pants and now over my abdomen. "I'm hungry, make me something."  
  
I relaxed my muscles, knowing it was all over. It wasn't long until my muscles tensed up again at what Dene said next. "Hey look, I made you have a 'THING'..."  
  
---  
  
"Dad would always let me steer at least three times in a day. We were always out there, fishing and riding around seeing new things, and then we could always get away from it all. The sea is paradise." I said as I took a bite out of one of the fish. I was finally able to talk to Dene as if she were just a normal person although at times he couldn't help staring down at her since they were sitting practically shoulder to shoulder.  
  
"I don't see how the sea can be something so wonderful to you." Dene was starting to lighten up to me, she even had the dignity to start calling me 'Kajiki-sama'. She agreed to eat just the cooked sea gull as I got to eat the fish and crabs.  
  
"So why do you hate the sea so much?" I risked the question.  
  
"How about we just talk about you instead of me for now?" she really did have a come back for everything, she must really not like talking about herself that much. "You know, some melted Colby cheese would go good with that fish."  
  
"Colby cheese?"  
  
"My parents own a German convenient store, Klein Junge Market. We are of German culture after all. I don't know where my parents, well great great grandparents, came up with the name, 'Small Boy Market'. But yeh, my brothers and I work there. You should try some Colby cheese, it is quite tasty."  
  
"So you have no sisters?"  
  
"Ja..." Dene finished eating her bird as she began to get dressed again. The sun had gone behind the clouds and it was much more cooler now.  
  
"Want me to help you?" I asked, taking a chance at what I was asking for.  
  
"Hmm?" She looked at me a little questionable.  
  
"Your corset, do you want me to help you put it on." I said very doubtful, knowing I would be rejected.  
  
"..." Dene smiled, oh my god, she smiled at me! My heart stopped again as I looked into those eyes of her. "Go ahead, Kajiki-sama, I guess you aren't such a bad pervert after all." She turned her back to me and I wrapped my fingers around the strings.  
  
"You just now realized this?" I chuckled and I heard her giggle that laugh I loved so much. I tied the strings as tight as I could but I didn't bring my hands away from her back. I began to rub the up and down along her sides and I heard another faint moan come from her.  
  
"Your hands, perverted fisherman Ryouta-sama, they are very strong, maybe I should start yielding a spear too."  
  
I rested my head on her shoulders, "Maybe you should tell me if you have anyone in your life right now, do you have someone special... say a boyfriend?" I was no longer afraid to ask her, I had become fearless after spending all this time with her.  
  
But suddenly, she stood and quickly threw her see-through shirt over her along with her cape and tote bag. What was wrong? Why was she acting this way?  
  
---  
  
Dene kept her face from Ryouta. She didn't want him to see the saddened countenance now graced upon her face. She thought about Umei, how she was destined for only her, how she had pledged herself to only Umei. Would she really let Ryouta get in her way? Most of all, she began to think of her Bandit Keith Howard. Would he act so sincere to her as Ryouta was? Right now she couldn't love Ryouta back the way he did to her.  
  
---  
  
"Dene?" I stood up along with her.  
  
"Hey, I have a lot of things to do, thanks for lunch, but I've got to go find a certain person I've been searching for." Dene blurted out and bowed. She quickly jogged off into the distance, I was amazed to see she could run around in such high heels.  
  
And so I was alone. I didn't sit back down until I didn't see her anymore as she had disappeared off into the horizon. I had told her everything I wanted to tell her, except about my father being taken away from me at sea. Maybe if I told her my tragedy at sea she would probably have told me why she hated the sea so much, maybe she would have figured out that I wasn't so different from her. Maybe she was just afraid of being frontal with me, maybe she was way different than they way I have just seen her to others.  
  
I brought my hands to my head as the fire began to die down. I didn't feel like fishing for more food or feeding the fire. I was so confused at the way my body had acted. I knew now, I really loved her. I wouldn't stop thinking about her now, her very face lingered in my mind right to the last detail. I would always see the image of her running off, leaving my question unanswered. I sighed, a sigh that made my heart beat seem painful, "Is this what love really feels like?"  
  
---  
  
Dene kept running until she was out of sight from Ryouta. She ran so fast, so hard until she tripped and fell to the floor, her black bangs fell over her face. She began to sniffle, something so uncommon for her. "Why does it hurt so much..." she beat herself up. Did she really love Ryouta too? She only acted the way she did to just the guys she liked. She just wanted to have some fun with Ryouta. She's betrothed to Umei and her heart was for Bandit Keith Howard! But Ryouta had what she needed, something blue! He seemed like too much of a good person to be involved with her. She didn't like Ryouta... She loved him. Dene buried her face in the grass and sighed a painful sigh that felt as if her heart would burst, "Is this what love really feels like?"  
  
---  
  
To Be Continued 


	8. It's Why We're Here

~Previously on Yugiou; "When I see them again, both Motou and Matouchi will die no matter what." She was about to reach for her bag and pull out her gun when her eyes peeked at what was so significant about the area before her. By the edge of the cliff was a small fire contained in a circle of rocks. Three fish kabobs on some sticks were being roasted by the flame and smelled quite pleasing to Dene. She was lured to them because she hadn't eaten anything since her breakfast back on land at her home in the East Domino district—and the only thing she had eaten for breakfast was Colby cheese on a sandwich roll.  
  
"Well I am quite hungry, and these three crabs will go great with my three fishes. Now I can have this bird to add to my lunch, and this thing is still a little bit full. Who knows, maybe I'll find a duelist to duel while I eat."  
  
"Water, the ocean, the sea, the lake, the pond, those damn creatures that live in the water, but most of all... I HATE THOSE SEA GULLS!" Dene screamed. The birds were still squawking over her very head. "Will you go away!"  
  
I had to admit that I was dazed to see her. This girl sitting there, probably preparing to eat my lunch. I didn't realize that the spear or the duck and bottle of liquid fell to my feet. I could've fallen over the cliff because of my legs wobbling from seeing her if I hadn't kneeled down to pick up the items I dropped. For a second I wasn't looking into her eyes as I collected the stuff on the floor. I couldn't look into those eyes again, they were so beautiful, if I looked into those warm dusty honey eyes of hers again I might forget how to speak, or even worse, fish.  
  
"Am I going to have to keep calling you pervert or what?!"  
  
"Oh um, I'm Rajiki Kyouta, I mean, Kajiyouta Ryoki, wait, uh, Kajiki Ryouta! My name is Kajiki Ryouta!" Great, now I was gushing. I knew those extraordinary eyes were looking at me as if I were stupid so I quickly asked, "and you are the girl who was about to eat my fish."  
  
"Aw you already know, I'm Dene."  
  
"Okay, what's with you?!" I stood up and pointed at her. "what's all this koibito stuff!"  
  
"Why, anata, you say that to people when you love them."  
  
"Do you act this way all the time, or do you just like seeing guys falter to you like this." I gasped.  
  
"I just act this way around you is all... Because I want you to act back." She stopped her hand over my thigh and right over the top of my pants. I just begged her to do what I wanted her to do. She gripped the top of my pants as my lungs got really tight, not to mention other places on my body got really tight too. Dene slipped her fingers under the top of my pants and I became petrified at how close she was to feeling my... my....  
  
She only acted the way she did to just the guys she liked. She just wanted to have some fun with Ryouta. She's betrothed to Umei and her heart was for Bandit Keith Howard! She didn't like Ryouta... She loved him. Dene buried her face in the grass and sighed a painful sigh that felt as if her heart would burst, "Is this what love really feels like?"  
  
~  
  
-  
  
A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode Eight: It's why we're here  
  
-  
  
"That Kajiki Ryouta has a good, strong spirit for dueling. It's amazing how he is able to keep a smile on his face after all that has happened to him... If I lost you guys, I would be broken for life." Yuugi said examining his gauntlet of star chips. He had just won in his duel against Ryouta and now him and his friends were looking for someone else to duel. The group had found their selves walking into yet another forest beside a stream they have been following because they had nothing better to do as they looked for more duelists.  
  
"This is madness! There are so many duelists on this island and we can't even find one." Jounouchi grumbled.  
  
"I'm hungry again..." Honda groaned.  
  
"How about we take a rest, ne?" Anzu spoke up. She muttered something only Yuugi could hear, "Maybe it will stop those infants and their wailing."  
  
Yuugi chuckled.  
  
"Hey I know! Let's duel Mesmori!" Jounouchi pointed out.  
  
"Hey where is Mesmori?" Anzu brought up the discovery of a missing member to the group.  
  
"Was she with us when we left Kajiki-san?" Yuugi was puzzled.  
  
"Well she has been wandering around by herself this far, maybe she decided to go on her own again." Honda shrugged.  
  
Yuugi clenched his fist, "I don't think—"  
  
"Honda's right. She could've gone back to Ryouta for some food." Anzu sided with the other classmate. "Let's just keep going."  
  
Yuugi's shoulders sunk. "Well, okay—"  
  
The whole time the three of his friends were discussing the matter at hand, Jounouchi had grown very disheartened with the sign of concern in his eyes. He turned to face his friends. "You guys rest here, I'll go look for her." And with that, Jounouchi was off like a missile.  
  
"Whoa Jounouchi!" Honda called for his friend to return. "Matte! I'm coming—" Honda was about to run after Jounouchi when Anzu had grabbed him by the shoulder.  
  
"Honda!" Anzu censured. "Don't you remember how Mesmori risked her life for Jounouchi... Maybe those two need to be alone for a while."  
  
Honda was about to give a retort but he glanced over to see Yuugi shaking his head 'no' as a warning.  
  
---  
  
Mesmori sat on a hug boulder in the middle of a small clearing in the forest. She was twiddling her thumbs together and seemed to be trying to keep her mind off something. She lifted her head up and began jerking around when she heard a swish in the bushes. The young teen grew frightened as she waited to see what it was through one eye left open while the other was closed tight.  
  
A brown hare jumped through the shrubs at Mesmori and she nearly had a heart attack.  
  
"Thank god, just a bunny!" Mesmori wheezed as her heart kept beating at an alarming rate. She clutched her chest. "Get a grip, get a grip!"  
  
The small hare looked up at Mesmori with its beady eyes and hopped onto the boulder. It sat right next to her and began brushing its head with its paws.  
  
Mesmori's eyes sparkled as she began to tickle the small creature behind the ears. "You lucky little bunny. You don't have anyone out to kill you. Well, except foxes, and owls, and coyotes, and—" Mesmori stopped herself when she noticed the rabbit staring up at her as if he could understand what she was saying.  
  
Suddenly, another swish came from the bushes behind Mesmori. The hare jumped up and ran off in the opposite direction. The fifteen-year-old was now even more terrified because if Mesmori didn't frighten the rabbit and this intruder did, then it was surely trouble!  
  
Mesmori crawled up in the fetal position and closed her eyes. "AH! He followed me here, he's coming! AH! I can't kill anyone! Not me! Don't molest me again! AH!"  
  
"Mesmori?" Jounouchi shook the girl out of her trance.  
  
"Huh?" Mesmori glimpsed up at her 'attacker'. "Oh, hi Jou-sama." She said rather peacefully as if nothing had happened.  
  
"What was all that about." Jounouchi asked still holding onto the girl's shoulders.  
  
"Oh... nothing." Mesmori sat up and looked away from the boy.  
  
"That didn't sound like nothing. You should tell me, I was there you know." Jounouchi climbed up on the rock and sat next to her. "That Dene talked about you killing someone. And now I heard you talking about not wanting to kill someone that someone else wants you to do."  
  
"It doesn't concern you." Mesmori mumbled.  
  
Jounouchi grabbed Mesmori by the shoulders again and turned her towards him. "Okay, since when do you start acting like this? Someone is following you, someone seduced you?"  
  
"He is..." Mesmori didn't bring her eyes to look into Jounouchi's. "Why are you here?"  
  
Jounouchi let go of Mesmori and leaned back. "I came looking for you."  
  
"Out of your own free will?" the girl glanced at Jounouchi a little surprised.  
  
Jounouchi began picking his ear with his little finger, "Well, Yuugi... Yuugi has been talking about giving people another chance, I might as well start with giving you a chance."  
  
Mesmori hugged her knees to her chest and began to smile. 'Jou-sama is wonderful'  
  
"So, um, why don't you give me a chance? Who's this guy messing with you," Jounouchi cracked his knuckles, "I'll take care of him for ya."  
  
Mesmori sucked in a big breath of air and drew it back out. 'What if he is watching right now, if I tell Jounouchi, will he kill Jounouchi to teach me a lesson?! No, Jounouchi deserves to know.' Mesmori shook her head and stared at Jounouchi. "He was a senior at East Domino High at the beginning of the year. He was expelled for..."  
  
"...?"  
  
"Now his sick obsession with me has gotten even stronger. I know it was him at the docks, no one else calls me..." Mesmori held her head down.  
  
"Aw come on little nezumi..." Jounouchi laughed as he brought his arm around her shoulder. "Don't get so depressed."  
  
Mesmori became stiff as soon as she heard what Jounouchi called her. "Why did you call me that!?" she spat out paranoid and didn't realize she had grabbed Jounouchi by the collar.  
  
"Whoa easy—" Jounouchi persuaded trying to stop Mesmori from strangling him.  
  
"Only he calls me that! Don't call me that!" it looked as if Mesmori was about to cry from the way she was shouting.  
  
"Calm down, you act like mouse, you're so quiet at on your guard, I didn't know HE called you that." Jounouchi felt her grip loosen.  
  
"Gomen..." Mesmori whimpered. 'How could I act that way to Jounouchi like that?'  
  
The dirty blonde rubbed his neck, "What are the odds I would call you that."  
  
Mesmori grew a little hurt by the next thing she asked Jounouchi, "Do you give anyone else a certain name of an animal from the way they act?" she then looked away.  
  
"Nani?" Jounouchi was confused.  
  
"Do you..." Mesmori stifled sighed. "A girl perhaps?"  
  
"WELL!" A mischievous smile crossed over the boy's face. "Umei and Dene! The crude Umei and the elegant Dene. And then there's Mai, even more luxurious then them all! Umei being a potent Siamese kitten, Dene the curvaceous panther, and Mai the tempting fox! Yeh, if only they were all just one person! And Anzu—" Jounouchi went on with a disregard for Mesmori's feelings.  
  
The girl suspired disappointedly, "And I'm just a mouse... The quiet mouse who you don't know if it is a boy or girl."  
  
"Nani?" Jounouchi inquired flabbergasted.  
  
And in that instant, Mesmori snapped. She stood up atop the rock and brought her hands out. "I may not be a perfect sparing partner for you like the great Umei, I may not be as voluptuous as Dene, I may not be as 'a la mode' as Mai or as genuine as Anzu, but I like who I am! I like dressing this way, I like being different and comfortable despite what others think. Bright orange leggings, khaki shorts, orange sweater under a forest green shirt, and a cowboy hat. That's how you know it's me!"  
  
Jounouchi gawked up at the ranting girl.  
  
"My skin may not be as pale as the great Umei, or as tan as Dene's, or as full of life like Anzu and Mai's, but I like my darkly bronzed skin. That's how you know it is me!"  
  
Jounouchi was speechless.  
  
"My hair," Mesmori removed her hat and through it to the ground to reveal her brown hair pulled back in a hairdo that looked exactly like Umei's—it was in three spiked bangs just like Umei's. "Not as interesting as the great Umei's blonde, auburn, and orange combo, not as mystical as Dene's that is darker then the ocean, not as together as Mai's or Anzu's, but it's what I have and I love my dark chocolate hair. That's how you know it is me!"  
  
Jounouchi closed his eyes and smiled.  
  
"My eyes will never be as unique as the yellow-grassy eyes of the great Umei, nor as golden as the sun like Dene's, not even as wondrous as Mai's or Anzu's, but my eyes sparkle so much that they help me remember how much I love myself. That's how you know it is me!"  
  
"Mesmori..." Jounouchi whispered.  
  
"And you Jounouchi Katsuya." Mesmori choked for air, "You should think of me as more than just a mouse now, because I think of you in a lot of ways right now. A lot of good ways. I would kill myself for you, only you and Umei deserve my sacrifice, but right now, mainly just you. You have the personality that intrigues me more than my dear Umei. Dene and me are here to find Umei, she brought us both here through envy. We both want her. But right now there is someone I want more than Umei right now. I may not be all those things I said, but I love being me... and I love being around you, it's the way I am, that's how you know it is me..."  
  
Jounouchi just stared up at Mesmori.  
  
'OHMEGOSH! What have I just done!? Why did I say that! AH! I like Jounouchi!' Mesmori turned red and held her breath.  
  
Jounouchi broke the silence by laughing uncontrollably.  
  
A gust of steam exited from the petrified Mesmori's ears and nose like a chimney.  
  
Jounouchi pushed himself off the rock, still laughing, "Come on Mesmori, everyone is waiting for us." He tried to say through laughter.  
  
Mesmori flopped down on the rock, still blushing, "Gomen, Gomen, Gomen! Never mind what I said! I was just raving! I wouldn't dream on dying so soon! I'm not the self-sacrificial type!" Mesmori shifted her hands back and forth in front of her as she began to shudder.  
  
"Nope, now I know, now I'm gonna hafta think about this for a while before I decide." Jounouchi mocked her and couldn't stop laughing.  
  
"DECIDE! Decide what!" Mesmori screamed about to be a permanent red. 'Calm down, you're exhausting yourself!'  
  
"Hmmm hmmm, so many girls to choose from now," Jounouchi whistled. He began to walk off in the direction of his friends.  
  
Mesmori fanned herself and clutched her heart, 'OH DIVINITY ALL MIGHTY! He knows I have a crush on him! Stupid me! Exhausting myself like this! He thinks I'm conceited! I shouldn't have showed him my hair! I did it to look exactly like my hero Umei! He thinks I'm a freak! Oh Umei what do I do!'  
  
"Hurry up, Mesmori!" Jounouchi chortled, already gone from the scene.  
  
"Coming!" Mesmori gasped for air. 'I shouldn't have exhausted myself again...' the girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe. 'I'm almost out too, I need to be more careful...'  
  
---  
  
"Word is you lost a duel against Katsuya." A familiar voice said in a detestable tone. The carrier of the voice stood with her back facing the person she was talking to.  
  
"And where did you hear that?" Mai Kujaku burst out in her defense rather crossly.  
  
"The grapevine." Umei turned her head to sneer at Mai.  
  
The two females were standing on a beach as the waves came up to both of their knees.  
  
Mai stepped back away from the water as it chilled her. "That's hilarious..." she said sarcastically.  
  
"Didn't I tell you not to hang around that bantam? He smeared his losing streak all over you."  
  
"Oh please, I'm still as great a duelist as they come, just from one loss doesn't mean you've lost your edge." Mai crossed her arms and turned her nose up.  
  
Umei spun all the way around to face her friend. "To some it means the world..."  
  
"Are you still pining over that Seto Kaiba, psh, high school girls these days." Mai placed her hands on her hips and began her high-pitch laugh.  
  
Umei shot her head away, "You just wreak of that bantam, so you really did do it with him huh?"  
  
Mai's eyes widened as she shot her head to Umei, "More times than you have done it with Seto Kaiba!"  
  
Umei glared at Mai and just brushed it off. "Why are you my best friend again? Weren't we just talking about Jounouchi, how did it turn back to that Dinosaur Ryuzaki... You have a fetish for losers or something?"  
  
"Ugh, I could be dueling some pathetic opponent right now, what do you want anyway?" Mai made a 'humph' sound through her nose in the process of tapping her foot.  
  
"So you can only win against pathetic opponents?" Umei ridiculed.  
  
"I don't have time to waste my valuable beauty on you." Mai held a mass of her flaxen curls between her hands.  
  
"You rather entice men out of their star chips through sinful acts instead? Like that bantam." Umei's eyes narrowed.  
  
"I rather be with someone mature right now and not a foolish school girl like you." Mai started to saunter off.  
  
"Mai..." the older woman turned to look at the girl. Umei walked up to Mai and passed her. Mai grew a little tense when she heard Umei speak very darkly. "There are only nine worthy duelists on this island right now, one of them has not yet made it yet but he'll be here soon. I can already tell you right now that those nine will be in the finals. The rest of the people here are just practice for the nine."  
  
Mai stepped away from Umei when she saw her turn around with her eyes flaming purple!  
  
"Do you trust yourself enough to be one of the final nine? Stick to the wimps you fight now, if you go up against the duelists I have my bets on making the finals, then you will surely lose. Stick to your instincts, though you might not become stronger that way..."  
  
"Umei?" Mai stammered a little overly suspicious.  
  
"My father has a whole different plan up his sleeves. I hope you aren't the one chosen for the 'other' division in the finals... but that's if you make it."  
  
"What do you mean if! I'm going to be there! What's this 'other' division, Umei... if you are Umei!" Mai shot her finger towards Umei.  
  
"You want the money don't you, just the money? That's in the division for the people competing in the finals to fight Pegasus, you know, the original outcome of this tournament. There's a whole different division that takes half the people that made the finals to fight amongst each other against their will. If you win in the special division; however, you have the power to..."  
  
"Power to what?! Do you fight Pegasus in this special division?!" Mai was shaking.  
  
"Iie... something else."  
  
"Something?!" Mai shrieked.  
  
"I have to go, see you soon Mai, real soon."  
  
"Umei don't you dare walk away!"  
  
Umei didn't respond.  
  
And that was the last Mai saw of Umei as she walked off into the forest again. What was going on? Mai was very confused about what Umei was talking about. Umei had been laying as if in a trance on the beach with the water streaming all over her when Mai found her. What had happened before Mai had found her? Why were her eyes purple?! Why was that thing around her neck glowing?! Why care now? Mai had to find someone to duel in order to get to the finals, but right now, Mai was really interested in competing in this special division Umei had been talking about. Everyone here was after the money, only one-sixteenth of the people here wanted otherwise. So that's why everyone was here... their own issues with destiny.  
  
Mai came back to reality when she found out someone was standing directly behind her.  
  
"Why did you let her leave..." a gun pushed up against Mai's back as the trigger clicked.  
  
---  
  
To Be Continued 


	9. Umei's Death and Dene's Tears

~Previously on Yugiou; "This is madness! There are so many duelists on this island and we can't even find one." Jounouchi grumbled.  
  
"Hey where is Mesmori?" Anzu brought up the discovery of a missing member to the group.  
  
"Was she with us when we left Kajiki-san?" Yuugi was puzzled.  
  
"Honda!" Anzu censured. "Don't you remember how Mesmori risked her life for Jounouchi... Maybe those two need to be alone for a while."  
  
Honda was about to give a retort but he glanced over to see Yuugi shaking his head 'no' as a warning.  
  
Mesmori crawled up in the fetal position and closed her eyes. "AH! He followed me here, he's coming! AH! I can't kill anyone! Not me! Don't molest me again! AH!"  
  
"Mesmori?" Jounouchi shook the girl out of her trance.  
  
'OHMEGOSH! What have I just done!? Why did I say that! AH! I like Jounouchi!' Mesmori turned red and held her breath.  
  
Jounouchi broke the silence by laughing uncontrollably.  
  
A gust of steam exited from the petrified Mesmori's ears and nose like a chimney.  
  
"Hmmm hmmm, so many girls to choose from now," Jounouchi whistled. He began to walk off in the direction of his friends.  
  
Mesmori fanned herself and clutched her heart, 'OH DIVINITY ALL MIGHTY! He knows I have a crush on him—'  
  
'I shouldn't have exhausted myself again...' the girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe. 'I'm almost out too, I need to be more careful...'  
  
"--Do you fight Pegasus in this special division?!" Mai was shaking.  
  
"No... something else."  
  
"Something?!" Mai shrieked.  
  
Mai came back to reality when she found out someone was standing directly behind her. ~  
  
-  
  
A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode Nine: Umei's Life and Dene's Tears  
  
-  
  
"Did you hear that? It sounded like a gunshot..." Anzu perked up. She had been washing her face with the stream water until the potent noise startled her.  
  
"I think I heard that too." Yuugi said in a fretful tone. He had been playing paper, scissors, stone against Honda and had been winning each time. Suddenly, a situation disturbed him. "Look over there!"  
  
A flock of birds began to flutter in a panic.  
  
"What do you think just happened?" Anzu walked up to a tree and leaned over it.  
  
Honda brushed himself off as he stood up from the ground. "If a gun was involved, I have a good guess behind the gun... not many duelists would bring guns with them to settle a score with an old 'flame' as it were..."  
  
"Yo! Guess whose back!" Jounouchi roared at the top of his lungs followed by laughter.  
  
He brought the group from the drama that had just stricken them. "Uh-oh, Jounouchi's laughing full of joy, wonder what happened...." They all said together.  
  
Jounouchi came to a slow stride as he came to a halt by his friends. "Miss me?"  
  
It took Mesmori a while to catch up but as soon as she did, she practically doubled over.  
  
"Jounouchi, how could you make her run so hard, you practically killed her!" Anzu scolded. She brought Mesmori to her feet and asked, "Are you okay?"  
  
Jounouchi began imitating Anzu in the background without her noticing.  
  
"Oh I'm fine, I'll be full of pep for a while, I just had my inje—uh I'm fine." Mesmori said winded and flashed a weak smile.  
  
"Took you long enough," Anzu narrowed her eyes at Jounouchi, "What were you two doing? Was she really that far from us?"  
  
Jounouchi narrowed his eyes back but then brought his arm around Mesmori's shoulders and began slapping her shoulder so hard it made her buckle at the knees a bit. "Me and this not-so-quiet mouse have gone one on one. You know, you should give people a chance, you'll learn a lot about them that way."  
  
"You should talk!" Anzu scoffed.  
  
"Guys, guys, lets not argue here. Let's find some duelists to duel and then you two can argue all you want." Yuugi cajoled determined to get all his ten star chips now.  
  
---  
  
"This place looks even more deserted then by that stream." Jounouchi grumbled.  
  
The group of five stood in the middle of a large meadow with different paths leading away from it. Yuugi grew a little disappointed not dueling anyone else as of yet.  
  
"So where to now?" Anzu asked try to make the predicament a little lighter.  
  
Mesmori had been looking around attentively as if waiting for something.  
  
"Is there like some private meeting going on that all the duelists have gone to and we weren't informed about?!" Jounouchi went on.  
  
"Maybe if we wait around for a while a duelist will come on by." Honda laughed.  
  
And on cue with Honda's words, someone emerged from the forest behind them. Mesmori's eyes sparkled as she had unknowingly turned around so quickly. She then jumped on the person who she saw. The rest of the group spun around just to be shocked at who they saw.  
  
"Umei?!" they all gasped, none of them expected to see her so soon from their last encounter.  
  
Mesmori was rambling on embracing Umei in a huge hug. "Oh great leader Umei Jopa Crawford, I have been looking for you everywhere and now I've found you! Now you can see how I duel now! Now you will bring me into your sect!"  
  
Umei stood unmoved and as if nothing was happening, she looked at everyone as placid as ever. "It seems fate doesn't want us to part ways..." she stared down at Yuugi with glazed eyes.  
  
"Oh you see it too!" Mesmori grew hotheaded as she believed Umei was only talking to her.  
  
"Ahem, I wasn't directing that to you now please, let go of me." Umei said in a monotone as she shut her eyes in annoyance. She obviously didn't care for Mesmori as Mesmori cared for her.  
  
"Yes great Umei Jopa Crawford, anything great Umei Jopa Crawford." Mesmori became obedient and stood at Umei's side like a bodyguard.  
  
Yuugi was first to speak then, "So what have you been doing since we last saw you? Ready for that duel?"  
  
Umei fought a smile that quickly vanished. "Still at the same status as I was before. I have been visiting people."  
  
Jounouchi grunted as he looked at Umei rather irritated.  
  
Umei glared at Jounouchi but then her expression grew hurtful.  
  
Anzu looked back in forth between Jounouchi and then Umei and then Jounouchi and then Umei and then Jounouchi and Umei again and for some reason at Mesmori—who had still been frozen like a statue. Anzu then pinched Jounouchi at the cheek and began tugging at his jaw while she spoke. "Don't worry, like all guys, Jounouchi is as stubborn as they come, we all know how he really feels..."  
  
"Anzu!" Jounouchi growled.  
  
"Frankly, I could care less of how he feels towards me," Umei started to say but noticed Yuugi's admonishing eyes so she added, "but part of me does care—besides I saw his girlfriend by the beach anyway."  
  
Jounouchi grew a little alarmed along with Mesmori as she broke out of her statue.  
  
"By the beach you say, which direction is—" Jounouchi noticed Mesmori getting horrified so he bit his tongue to stop himself.  
  
"You bunch sure haven't changed since I left, anyone else you want to tell me about before I depart." Umei became bored and about to take off again. Mesmori began to contemplate.  
  
"So you are postponing your defeat even more." Jounouchi stopped her in her tracks trying to start something.  
  
Anzu smacked her forehead as Honda and Yuugi groaned for this same old routine.  
  
Umei tried to calm herself but it didn't work out too well, "Don't challenge me until you know you can beat me, if you're ready for YOUR defeat we can have a go right now. Otherwise, back off."  
  
"I already know I can beat you. Without your little tricks you'll have the disadvantage." Jounouchi clenched his fists.  
  
"Don't think just because I won't use my 'gift' means I'm a terrible duelist!" Umei turned to him and now clenched her own fists.  
  
"You're a terrible duelist and person, you think of just about yourself and step all over others through deception! You don't deserve to be anyone's friend!" Jounouchi snarled.  
  
Umei's eyes widened thunderstruck.  
  
"Okay, what happened to giving people another chance!" Yuugi butted in trying to break the tiff up.  
  
"She doesn't deserve a chance; however, she deserves every rotten thing that happens to her. In her words, 'Frankly, I could care less'." Jounouchi shot his head the other way as if the mere sight of Umei disgusted him.  
  
"Jounouchi!" Yuugi shouted overwhelmed. Anzu became melancholy and Honda stood there trying to not listen to the quarrel.  
  
"... That tongue deserves to be ripped out..." Umei muttered casting her head down.  
  
"I remember now!" Mesmori said all of a sudden. All eyes turned to her, even Jounouchi's. "I remember who else we met that would interest you, great Umei Jopa Crawford!"  
  
Mesmori randomly brought up something that had already lost its value in subject. Everyone, even Umei, almost did a face-fault to the floor.  
  
"Like who?" Umei asked very annoyed.  
  
"We met the magnificent sea duelist Kajiki Ryouta! He's really nice and we ate some of his fish! Did you duel him yet! Yuugi did! He won!" Mesmori just regaled Umei on useless information.  
  
"Ja ne..." Umei turned away and began to walk off regretting she had met up with Yuugi and his group.  
  
Mesmori continued with information she knew would impress Umei, "And then Dene was here and she tried to kill Jounouchi and Yuugi and me! Isn't that just awful! Me killed, just awful! Everywhere I turn it is like someone wants to kill me!"  
  
As soon as Mesmori said the name of her long-time rival she completely stopped breathing. The rest of the world shattered, it just didn't matter, only Umei and Mesmori stood there. Umei turned around slowly with a gruesome expression, she looked like death.  
  
Mesmori didn't cease her rant, "She even said she wants to marry you! All she needs is something blue! She's looking for you, she followed you here to kill you not marry you! What shall we do my great leader! She brought HIM along with her!" the girl started bawling.  
  
Umei broke from her hypnotic state as she peered off in one direction and saw something shine in the distance. She shot towards everyone in a split second and screamed all at once, "Get down!"  
  
A gunshot went off. Everyone ducked and screamed while Umei plunged forward as the bullet of the firearm impaled the tree directly behind Mesmori. Umei had slung Mesmori to the ground with her just in time, saving her from a bullet to the head.  
  
"Chikuso!" Jounouchi cursed still shielding his head.  
  
Umei stood to her feet still more sedated than usual. She stepped over Mesmori's shivering body and stood to face the girl who stood at the other end of the meadow. "Hey stalker, how's life."  
  
Dene swung her gun by her side and had a very maniacal smirk on her face that was unusual for her; her eyes were bloodshot and her pupils were beady. "Hell until I found you, koibito."  
  
"OHMEGOSH! Umei saved my life!" Mesmori said over and over, now clinging to Jounouchi. The rest of the group got up and stood behind Umei.  
  
"So you knew? I'm not so impressed." Dene removed her tote bag from her body.  
  
"The first shot I heard caught me onto you, then I knew, how you are so pathetic to use others as bait, especially those I was acquainted to and had just came in contact with. As you know, Mesmori can't keep her mouth shut about me for a minute, so it was pretty easy to find you." Umei reached behind her back and placed her hand in her back pocket.  
  
'Nani?' Jounouchi thought as he watched what Umei was doing.  
  
"Really that predictable? I'm losing my edge, no matter, are you ready to die my dear koibito?" Dene shrugged and flipped her hair.  
  
"Great Umei Jopa Crawford! Don't forget she wants to marry you!" Mesmori piped up.  
  
Umei chuckled lightly. "And I suppose you want to molest me right now as well, you stalker? Bacchi gateru."  
  
"Don't worry! We're safe with the great Umei Jopa Crawford around!" Mesmori cheered as if this was common.  
  
"My, my, you should tell your little mouse to watch what she says. She doesn't know who could be watching..." Dene wouldn't take her eyes off Umei in a sadistic way.  
  
"Iie! Great Umei Jopa Crawford will take HIM down again!" Mesmori shrunk.  
  
"So Umei, which one shall I kill first? I owe both Yuugi and Mesmori too, then there is him," Dene used her gun to point at Jounouchi, "I should've killed him when I had the chance. Just think, you dead just intrigues me to a point where—"  
  
"Yeh I don't think anyone wants to know about your 'wet dreams' at night about me. I don't have time to play with you today, I have other people worth my time at dueling." Umei's hand began to slip out of her pocket.  
  
'Who worth dueling? So much death talk lately.' Jounouchi thought.  
  
"You didn't have time to spend with Mai before she died either." Dene said as if she blamed it all on Umei.  
  
Not only Umei, but also the entire group had to have stood with eyes as wide as saucers at what they just heard.  
  
"It's not true!" Jounouchi growled, Mesmori stared at him.  
  
"That gunshot was meant for her, she wasn't truthful with me, truthful people should be punished, why did you kill her Umei?" Dene said with a devious grin to back her up. "If you don't believe me..." and at that moment, Dene threw down all of Mai's deck that was stained with blood. "Oh, and this isn't about dueling anymore."  
  
Mesmori gasped as she clamped her hands over her mouth.  
  
Anzu looked away and Honda clutched his head tightly.  
  
Yuugi closed his eyes seeing that Jounouchi was acting out more then the rest of them. He had been trembling intensely as he stepped back. He gritted his teeth and kept shaking his head. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" each time he said it he gotten louder until he was to the point of screaming.  
  
Umei's face was in shadow.  
  
"Sad, she died... someone close to you." Dene licked her lips, "just like your mother."  
  
Umei winced as her face came out of shadow to reveal tears streaming down her face, she threw what came out of her pocket to Mesmori. "Call security, the number is in—"  
  
The object, a fancy cell phone, shattered to pieces in midair, right before Mesmori could catch it. Dene had quickly anticipated Umei's act and had already shot at it without everyone seeing her bring her gun up.  
  
"Tsk tsk, you never use to want backup. Don't run from death." Dene scolded playfully by waddling her index finger back and forth. "Mai and your mother accepted it and they are probably happier that they don't have to be around someone as cold as you. Did you ever act like a friend to Mai?"  
  
Umei shook her head trying to ignore Dene. "Shut up... shine."  
  
"This is all your fault, you killed your mother, you killed your best friend, now, how about you kill your mouse!" Dene aimed her gun up but found it knocked out of her hands. Umei had unbelievably appeared in front of Dene and knocked it to the ground.  
  
"Say it to my face, bakayaro." Umei growled.  
  
Dene didn't seem afraid of Umei's intimidation. "How about I rub it in your face!" In an instant, Dene spat in Umei's face and dodged the oncoming blow delivered by Umei. "Fighting with rage, never saw this side of you." Dene mocked as she dodged yet another one of Umei's punches.  
  
Umei pounced to the floor and swept Dene off her feet by brushing her own under the murderous girl. As Dene fell, she wrapped her legs around Umei's neck and threw her over to the side of her. Umei hit the floor with her back quite hard as Dene suddenly appeared on top of her, pinning her down forcefully.  
  
"Losing your touch." Dene hissed as she brought her face closer to Umei's.  
  
"What I lost was my expensive cell phone." Umei murmured.  
  
"I'm sure you have twelve more just like it." Dene brought her cheek against Umei's.  
  
"Hmm, you're right." Umei kicked her feet up and flipped Dene from off her. Dene rolled on the ground and then brought herself to her feet in the motion, miraculously holding her gun again.  
  
"Danke, koibito, rolled me right where my gun laid." Dene flipped the trigger but the gun went off into an empty target. Umei had brutally impacted Dene with her right knee directly in the gut. The gun fell to the floor again.  
  
"As you say, 'danke'!" Umei grasped the back of Dene's head and slammed it into her right knee now, from the force, Umei could've ripped Dene's hair out.  
  
Dene, through throbbing closed eyes, grabbed Umei by her right leg and brought her to the ground. But Umei kicked her leg in Dene's side and brought her tumbling over her. Umei jumped up and regained her fighting stance, "Same old, same old."  
  
"Okay, how can she do all that in high heels?! How can Umei do all that in boots?!" Jounouchi protested.  
  
"Jounouchi! Don't joke like that, we need to stop this." Anzu glared about to take off.  
  
"Iie!" Yuugi warned her not to go. "You stay with Mesmori, we'll take care of this. But I don't know how we are going to get close to them; they are like wild beasts! We might get added to the fight if we try to stop them!"  
  
"... Hey maybe you should let both Anzu and Mesmori fight." Everyone stared at Jounouchi, "Girl fight... Even though they don't fight like women... all we need is mud—I'll shut up now."  
  
Anzu smacked Jounouchi in the back of his head.  
  
"We need to stop this before they kill each other." Yuugi gasped as he looked at the gun sitting to the side of the battle. And then a crazy notion passed over Yuugi's mind that he knew he would regret.  
  
Dene was now strangling Umei; both her arms were clasped over Umei's neck as Umei's hands were trying to free herself from Dene's hold.  
  
"That's right," Dene hissed into Umei's ear, her lips brushing against it, "gasp for air, until your lungs heart! You in this position is much more arousing than Mai's."  
  
"Eyah!" Umei cried out. With all her might, she shot her head down and then suddenly back up with just as much velocity, smashing right into Dene's forehead. Dene clenched her teeth so she wouldn't scream while her grip loosened around Umei's neck. Umei took advantage of this opportunity. She placed both her hands on Dene's right arm and flipped her over so that she was flying in the air before she came crashing down to the Earth. Dene was lying on her back as if dead; her eyes were closed and she wasn't breathing.  
  
Umei stood over Dene, panting for air. "Don't play that with me!" she screamed at the same time she brought her foot down on Dene's face—or at least tried to. Umei would have finished the fight if Dene hadn't rolled off to the side. Umei's foot crashed into nothing but dirt. The blonde stood in that stance too long as Dene got up to her feet and began running to Umei. Dene's right fist collided with Umei's left jaw.  
  
Umei took the blow and didn't falter; her hat fell off instead. Umei turned her eyes to look directly at the demented grimace of Dene's. Umei found more hatred for Dene because of that smile. Dene always had that smile when she was going to kill someone, and she would always kill someone. Back home, she hired every class of people to kill Umei, and none of them were able to. Dene killed them anyway. Umei couldn't stand it anymore.  
  
"I'm trying to get rehabilitated... But how can I when you are everywhere! Hara ga tatsu!" Umei threw her right knuckle smack dab in the middle of Dene's face. Dene had to step back from Umei's punches but she couldn't get away. Umei punched and punched and punched. Twice into Dene's jaw and once again into Dene's face strenuously.  
  
Dene put space between them by jumping back and immediately bringing her hands to the floor to do a handstand. She lifted her body up and forward, and since Umei anticipated this at the last minute her fist socked into air as the heel of Dene's high heels kicked right into Umei's chin.  
  
Umei wobbled a bit, feeling her own sanguine fluid expel from her nostrils and mouth—the taste so bitter. Umei could barely see out of her eyes from her swollen cheeks.  
  
Dene didn't give Umei a chance to attack. She was already in front of the tottering teen and had already executed her next death strike. She brought her right leg up, her black dress a thread from ripping, and plowed it into Umei's left ear.  
  
Umei tried shaking off the pain that fled through her entire head but Dene didn't allow it. Dene had already kicked at Umei again, this time with her left leg to Umei's right ear.  
  
Umei couldn't take it anymore; her head throbbed and pulsed with pain. It burned her so bad that she would surely blackout any minute. A deep cut was scratched into each side of Umei's head now, spilling the blood that stained her hair and dripped from her face to her neck to her white, long- sleeve over shirt. This was the end.  
  
Dene knew it was over too. The black hair of the fiery girl flew out behind her as she had jumped in the air. In an instant, she had turned all the way around in midair as if she were floating. Her right foot came out as she came back around to face Umei for the last time. Dene's right foot flung in the air behind her from what she had just done. All motion stopped and for that second, everything was still.  
  
Umei's back hit the floor as hard as Dene had hit her eyes with her right heel. Little beads of blood were exiting the corners of Umei's eyes; she laid sprawled out on the floor with the grass curling over her. Umei's eyes were wide open, but her pupils were gone, her exquisite green corneas were gone. Umei's chest didn't move up and down symbolizing that she was still alive. She lay there dead.  
  
And with Umei's tears of blood, Dene cried too. For some reason Dene had tears streaming down her face as she gazed at the dead girl. "You left me..." Dene whispered, "Now who will kill me, you were suppose to kill me too. We were to both die together, we are meant to die together..."  
  
Mesmori was crying into Anzu's shirt. She was stuttering and choking through tears, "T-th-his isn't tee great Umei Jopuu Craw-Crawfard, she never lost like dis, she never fought like dis! Imposter! It tisn't her!  
  
"We need to act now!" Honda said ready to dash in there and take Dene down.  
  
Jounouchi stood with an unreadable expression on his face.  
  
Dene began to step towards Umei to make sure the deed was done but was stopped by the voice of Yuugi.  
  
"Don't go any further..." His voice trembled as much as his hands did. Dene cocked her head back to see what Yuugi was holding. He was trying to straighten the gun he held but was too shaky to do so.  
  
Dene smiled as her yellow eyes began to glow. "And you are going to stop me?" the girl began to walk to Yuugi.  
  
"Stay back I—" Yuugi closed his eyes as the pistol almost fell out of his hands if Dene hadn't held it straight for him.  
  
"You have to hold it up, you have to shoot for the most vital point of your opponent, the heart." Dene pushed the firearm right through her bosoms and let it rest directly over her heart.  
  
Yuugi kept his eyes closed and he began to shake even more.  
  
"Stop being afraid and do it!" Dene screamed, her insane personage returning. "Kill me so I can be with my Umei! I deserve it don't I! Mai and Umei both dead! Together! Don't you think I deserve it! Let me show you how!" Dene brought her fingers to the trigger of her own weapon.  
  
"Yuugi!" Jounouchi and Honda shouted and dashed for the scene. Anzu pushed Mesmori's head away so she wouldn't see what happened next.  
  
Yuugi's eyes widened as he saw Dene fly to the side, taking the gun with her. Out of no where, Umei had punched for Dene but the girl had already moved from harm. Umei was an inch from socking Yuugi in the eye if her hand didn't move to the right and pass the boy. Umei was on her tiptoes as she turned around to her adversary, her Anubis Girandole gleaming.  
  
"You came back for me." Dene said hesitantly as she twirled the gun around.  
  
Jounouchi and Honda grabbed Yuugi by the arms and were pulling him away from the scene; Yuugi was too shocked to move.  
  
"Stay away from him, we have a score to settle, leave them out of it." Umei didn't care how much blood was on her face or how horrendous she looked, she just spat out a mix of blood and saliva to the side of her and chuckled lightly.  
  
"So you care for them?" Dene glared at the three boys. "You finally abandoned that Kaiba Seto only to fall in the arms of one of them... Don't you see, I am the only one for you, koibito..."  
  
Umei chuckled lightly; "I didn't expect you to have taken those lessons just to use the skills you learned in battle. Opens my eyes to ice skating." Umei could barely open her right eye.  
  
Dene stopped twirling her gun, as she became fixated with Umei's legs. "And your agility and strength in your legs from running so much. Running away...You love it so much that it becomes your vital point!" Dene aimed her firearm to Umei's right knee and shot it off.  
  
Umei saw this and did the only thing she could do. She couldn't move in time so she had to do it. The bullet drilled into the back of Umei's right hand. Unbelievable, why would Umei care so much about her legs that she would risk losing her fingers for it!?  
  
Jounouchi and Honda became petrified like Yuugi.  
  
'She protected her legs?!' Jounouchi left his mouth gaping in awe.  
  
Umei was kneeling to the floor and staring at the bullet in her hand; she was biting her tongue and trying to take the pain as sweat broke out all over her face while her hair stood on end. "Tsh tsh tsh!" heard through Umei's clenched teeth.  
  
"I thought so..." Dene began twirling her gun again. "Your hand is so close to being ripped off, you rather have your whole body torn apart just to protect your legs. Selfish."  
  
Umei didn't speak, her left hand was quivering as she tried to pull the bullet from her bleeding hand.  
  
"Anzu! You two get out of here!" Honda shouted behind him.  
  
Anzu stood perplexed.  
  
"Ike!" Honda could have popped a vein from how he screamed.  
  
Anzu nodded her understanding and dragged Mesmori off into the woods. Mesmori was struggling to want to stay and watch but she gave in and ran off with Anzu.  
  
"Now why did you do that?" Dene looked peeved. "The mouse is next in line to die, but since you are so eager." And Dene shot off another shot directly at Honda.  
  
Jounouchi took a dive and brought his friend to the ground with him—just how Umei did it for Memsori. But Jounouchi left Yuugi isolated from protection, Dene's true plot.  
  
"Danke." Dene aimed the gun at Yuugi now, "I owe you one... You should've killed me when you had the chance."  
  
"Don't you dare!" Umei cried from the ground, "If you were any kind of a person you would shoot me instead! You don't owe Yuugi anything, you owe me! Kill me! Do it!"  
  
Dene glanced over at Umei as she let her gun droop down.  
  
Jounouchi was getting up to his feet while Honda was shivering from fright of almost being killed.  
  
Dene closed her eyes and smiled, "You deserve to see someone else die because of you..." Dene brought the firearm back up and shot it for Yuugi's head.  
  
Yuugi accepted his fate  
  
"YUUGI!"  
  
---  
  
"Another gunshot! What's going on!" Anzu was holding her head and kneeling to the floor. "Oh Yuugi, please don't get yourself killed!"  
  
Anzu had brought Mesmori to what looked like the stream the entire gang had been to before. Mesmori was leaning on a tree and staring at the ground.  
  
"What if it was Jounouchi?! Or Honda?! Oh please no!" Anzu fell to the ground and started crying.  
  
Mesmori looked away. Why wasn't she feeling the same way Anzu felt? She just kept thinking of the last she might see of Umei, her great leader Umei Jopa Crawford. How could someone hate her so much? Umei wasn't a terrible person, not to Mesmori at least. What could Umei have done to make so many enemies? Mesmori didn't want to believe that that was Umei, her Umei! Umei would never lose like that, even if her opponent had a gun. Umei will not die! Not to Dene's hands, not to anyone's hands, not even to Mesmori's hands.  
  
Mesmori tried to find the courage to standing up to herself, how she would never murder anyone even if it meant her own life. "Umei's too good a person to die, I won't kill her..." Mesmori muttered to herself as she began to cry too.  
  
"... You're ready to die by my hands then, MiMi-chan..." that voice shot through Mesmori's ears. Her eyes became small as she backed away from the tree, for some reason, only Mesmori could hear his voice, Anzu didn't stir from her crying spell.  
  
"OHMEGOSH!" Mesmori tripped as she stepped back.  
  
"You kill her, or you die... yamero." The voice said over and over again until it faded.  
  
Mesmori was going insane! She shook her head back and forth. "Yamete! I won't, I won't, I won't!" Mesmori screamed and getting the attention of Anzu.  
  
"Mesmori-chan?" Anzu asked.  
  
Mesmori started running back to the battlefield still screaming.  
  
"Mesmori!" Anzu ran off behind her.  
  
---  
  
"I don't believe it." Jounouchi was frozen in a running formation.  
  
Honda held his head down to not look at what he saw.  
  
"I didn't think he meant that much to you, to cost you your life for saving his." Dene rested her gun on her shoulder. "You aren't the sacrificial type, you want to be accepted that much, just until it kills you..."  
  
Umei stood in front of Yuugi as if she were a statue. Yuugi was gazing up at her back and grew a little worried; she had saved his life, but where did the other bullet hit her? Why wasn't she moving?! Yuugi looked down at her hand, the bullet was still lodged in there.  
  
"It's over." Dene sneered.  
  
Umei had pins for corneas as more blood just spewed from her mouth, it became apparent that her right should was where the bullet had gone. So much blood covered her right arm it was as if it was always that way, as if her right arm had always been red, as if her white sleeve had always been that darkly red. She must have been injured internally as well because of the blood coming from her mouth so fiercely. The bullet had either sunk into her collarbone or top of her rib cage. It was the most gruesome sight Yuugi had ever been faced with; to see a friend die before him.  
  
"Dead on your feet..." Dene snorted and started laughing maniacally.  
  
Umei wobbled a bit, she began to fall back, still frozen, still not breathing, dead.  
  
And in that instant, time really did stop, for Jounouchi it did. Everything was moving so slowly to Jounouchi, able to see the motions in movement, able to hear Honda yelling, able to see Yuugi shed tears. Jounouchi finally realized it all.  
  
'She saved Yuugi, she didn't have to but she did. She protected us all so that every ounce of harm that was directed to us was turned on her. She was killed because of us. We killed her. I killed her, I was the terrible person to her... if I accepted her, maybe she wouldn't have been so keen as to prove to me she was finally my friend...I should have given her a chance... I lost it all...' Jounouchi didn't feel himself running towards her, he didn't feel himself catch her just when she fell, he didn't feel tears flow down his cheeks.  
  
And Yuugi was right there beside him, holding her too. Time went back to normal but Umei still laid in both of their arms, still frozen like a lifeless corpse.  
  
Honda found himself beside his friends as well, he was standing there staring at Dene but then brought his eyes to Umei.  
  
Dene brought her gun up. "That's right, bunch together so I can pick off ya one by one. And when I'm done, I'll kill myself, I have no more purpose in this world anymore."  
  
The guys didn't move, they became as motionless as Umei, they had finally accepted their death like Umei did?  
  
Yuugi had been staring at Dene, disgusted with her. As Dene looked into Yuugi's eyes she found her hands shaking. Why was he affecting her in such a way? Dene steadied her hands and clicked the trigger.  
  
Mesmori and Anzu emerged from the forest to become sickened from the sight they saw. They weren't the only ones that came from the forest at that moment as well.  
  
Dene didn't fire a shot, her gun practically fell from her hands to the voice she heard behind her. She slowly turned to see if her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. There he was, her Bandit Keith Howard, standing there looking at her through his shades, holding her tote bag.  
  
He said it again, "That's a good model for a gun, looks modified and created by hand, expensive, fancy." Bandit Keith looked at the job she had down, "Nice work done with it too, makes quick work of the competition..." he began to walk off down the path Umei was going to take earlier. He motioned for Dene to follow as he walked off, the sun illuminating his figure.  
  
Dene was too mesmerized to remember what she was doing. She followed after him in a daze. Both Dene, and her angel, had disappeared into the light leaving the scene completely.  
  
"Her... vital point..." a voice struggled to say. The boys looked down to see Umei trying to speak. She was still alive?! After all that happened to her, after that dramatic speech for her by Jounouchi in his mind, she was still alive?!  
  
"Unbelievable..." Yuugi gasped as he wiped his eyes dry. The girls ran over to the group. Mesmori got there when they were trying to sit Umei up, she hugged Umei rather roughly.  
  
"Oie!" Umei felt her muscles ache as Mesmori embraced her but she didn't pull away, instead she patted Mesmori on the back.  
  
"Oh Yuugi, I..." Anzu kneeled beside Yuugi and couldn't finish what she had been starting to say. Yuugi smiled at her and nudged her.  
  
Honda flopped to the floor in relief it was all over, this time for good.  
  
Umei looked up at Jounouchi who was still holding her; she could hardly see him because of Mesmori's gigantic cowboy hat. Umei stuck her tongue at him and said, "You—gave me a chance...?"  
  
Jounouchi turned his head away, he didn't want her to see the tears in his eyes, or the smile on his face.  
  
---  
  
To Be Continued 


	10. The Men who Loved Mesmori

~Previously on Yugiou; "Did you hear that? It sounded like a gunshot..." Anzu perked up.  
  
"Yo! Guess whose back!" Jounouchi roared at the top of his lungs followed by laughter.  
  
"Guys, guys, lets not argue here. Let's find some duelists to duel and then you two can argue all you want." Yuugi cajoled determined to get all his ten star chips now.  
  
"This place looks even more deserted then by that stream." Jounouchi grumbled.  
  
"Umei?!" they all gasped, none of them expected to see her so soon from their last encounter.  
  
Mesmori was rambling on embracing Umei in a huge hug. "Oh great leader Umei Jopa Crawford, I have been looking for you everywhere and now I've found you! Now you can see how I duel now! Now you will bring me into your sect!"  
  
Umei broke from her hypnotic state as she peered off in one direction and saw something shine in the distance. She shot towards everyone in a split second and screamed all at once, "Get down!"  
  
A gunshot went off.  
  
Dene knew it was over to. The black hair of the fiery girl flew out behind her as she had jumped in the air. In an instant, she had turned all the way around in midair as if she were floating. Her right foot came out as she came back around to face Umei for the last time. Dene's right foot flung in the air behind from what she had done. All motion stopped and for that second, everything was still.  
  
"Stay away from him, we have a score to settle, leave them out of it." Umei didn't care how much blood was on her face or how horrendous she looked, she just spat out a mix of blood and saliva to the side of her.  
  
"So you care for them?" Dene glared at the three boys. "You finally abandoned that Seto Kaiba only to fall in the arms into one of them... Don't you see, I am the only one for you, koibito..."  
  
'—I should have given her a chance... I lost it all...' Jounouchi didn't feel himself running towards her, he didn't feel himself catch her just when she fell, he didn't feel tears flow down his cheeks.  
  
Umei looked up at Jounouchi who was still holding her; she could hardly see him because of Mesmori's gigantic cowboy hat. Umei stuck her tongue at him and said, "You—gave me a chance...?"  
  
Both Dene, and her angel, had disappeared into the light leaving the scene completely. ~  
  
-  
  
A Tapestry Incomplete  
  
Episode Ten: The Dinosaur and the Flame—the Men Who Loved Mesmori  
  
-  
  
Umei was leaning against a tree that stood outside the meadow that was her battlefield against Dene. She sat under the shade; legs sprawled out before her as her hands rested in her lap. The bullet was still in her right hand but it had stopped leaking blood by now. The wounds and bruises on her body were left unattended to so she could practically bleed to death and suffer through the pulsing pain. She couldn't lift her body she just sat there, her head held down, as if she were lifeless. Her eyes were just hooked towards her legs, the only part of her that wasn't bruised, the only part of her she wanted to save.  
  
Umei heard footsteps coming towards her as they swished in the grass. She brought her head up a little just to see Jounouchi sit next to her by the tree. In his hand he was holding a first-aid kit he had obtained from the bag Honda carried around.  
  
"Okay, just tell me where it hurts and I'll try to make it better." Jounouchi popped open the kit.  
  
"Is that so." Umei tried to chuckle but instead it came out as a cough. "I don't need it."  
  
Jounouchi looked at her a little strangely, "Demo..."  
  
"See," Umei tried lifting up her arms, "I heal easily, these are minor, I took way worse back home. They're just my arms."  
  
"And your face!" Jounouchi blurted out as he stared at Umei a little aggravated; he slammed the kit closed. "Your face is so swollen! You're cut everywhere and most of all you're bleeding from your eyes and mouth and nose! Doesn't that worry you?! How can you still see?! It looks as if your ears are bleeding too!"  
  
Umei looked away.  
  
"You don't look like a Siamese kitten anymore," Jounouchi huffed, "You look so revolting now... busu."  
  
Umei glanced back at him. "Siamese kitten?"  
  
Jounouchi kept going on as he mocked her, "Someone will ask me 'Oi, is that Umei, daughter of Pegasus?' And then I'll say, 'Hai! Busu na!'"  
  
Umei felt herself giggle.  
  
"So, are you going to let me help you or what?" Jounouchi grinned. "Busu, busu, busu."  
  
Umei sighed and pushed her self so she sat all the way upward. "I'll take care of my bullet wound—" she touched her chest where the bullet had gone in, "—knowing you, you would be like Yuugi and try to cop a feel at me." Umei narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Me never!" Jounouchi opened the kit again and crawled over until he was sitting directly in front of the battered girl. "Wait, did you say Yuugi—"  
  
"Are you going to aid me or what? I don't got all day." Umei tried to regain her tranquil aura.  
  
Jounouchi dabbed a cotton swab in a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide Solution. "Why didn't you ask me yet?" he murmured as he brought it to Umei's face.  
  
"Asked you wha-AHIEO! ITEE! ITAI! KONO YARO!" Umei screamed in pain as soon as Jounouchi swabbed it over the cuts on her face.  
  
Jounouchi couldn't help but laugh as he brought the stick back and dabbed some more of the liquid on it.  
  
"OI OI! You aren't touching me with that again! You are enjoying this!" Umei found the strength to bring her hands to her face and rub at the burning spots from the liquid on her.  
  
"Umei, a baby?" Jounouchi started laughing louder.  
  
"You aren't suppose to put that on deep punctures or wounds! You're going to make it worse!" Umei grabbed the box from him and jerked out the bottle. "Let's see how you like it." She began dousing it on her hand and was surely going to rub it in his face. But being too careless, Umei caught on that she was pouring it on her hand with the bullet in it and she immediately dropped as she shook the whole island with her bloodcurdling scream.  
  
"Whoa there!" Jounouchi grabbed her trembling right hand and brought it to him, he reached over for the kit and took out a cloth. He proceeded to wipe of the whimpering teen's hand.  
  
Umei regained her sanity and sucked in her troubles. She suddenly asked, just to keep attention off her, the question she had started but never quite finished. "What have I not asked you yet?" Jounouchi stopped wiping her wound and noticed something unusual.  
  
"I thought you wore your duelist glove on your left hand?" Jounouchi tugged it off her right hand.  
  
"Jou-kun..." she grew light-headed. The bullet didn't go too far into her hand, it barely pierced the bone. Jounouchi took out some forceps and pulled the bullet out and threw it into the bushes beside them. He then began to wipe off the blood from her fingers and wrist. She shook her head and quickly stammered, "I have two duelist gloves, I switch off each time so both hands get the feel of dueling, Jou-kun."  
  
"Jou-kun?" Jounouchi looked up at her with gleaming eyes but she turned her head away. "So no more 'Katsuya this' or 'Katsuya that'?"  
  
"Stop changing the subject!" Umei slit her eyes to him. "What was it that you wanted me to ask you but I didn't?"  
  
Jounouchi tied a bandage over her palm and up to her wrist. One wound down, quite a lot more to go. "You didn't ask me where the others had ran off to, you must like being alone with me." He laughed and took some gauze up to the sides of Umei's head.  
  
"Ugh, stop playing games, where are they?" Umei flinched as he applied pressure to her injuries, he tied the large bandage over her head to stop the cuts from bleeding there. Why was he acting as if he never hated her in the first place?  
  
"Yuugi and Anzu went off looking for help. Mesmori and Honda went off looking for..." Jounouchi became saddened as he stuck Band-Aids over the cuts on Umei's face and cleaned the blood off.  
  
Umei didn't have to hear him say it, she just listened to him think it. "Mai's body?" Umei didn't change her expression as she shrugged.  
  
"You seem pretty calm knowing someone died." Jounouchi said a little angry. He slammed the box closed and handed it back to Umei, "There, I'm finished, tend your arm, busu." He said rather bitterly.  
  
"Oi, oi." Umei coaxed as she looked back at Jounouchi. "Don't buy into that stalker's words. Mai can't possibly be dead."  
  
Jounouchi shot his head towards Umei, "But the gunshot—"  
  
"Dene knows she would only kill someone who means something to me right in front of me so I could see it. She bluffed. She might have threatened Mai with a warning shot but I know, I believe, she didn't kill her. She might have roughed her up a bit, but not kill her. She rather torture people in front of me so I can get riled up and come at her. She's such a masochist, her and pain... But she shows how she feels straight up. That's what is different from her and me. She can show emotions straight up whereas I'm always coating them... Then there is Mesmori who only shows her emotions when I'm not around." Umei began to take off her white, woolen jacket that ended above her abdomen.  
  
Jounouchi blushed to see Umei's scarlet tube top. He shot his head away and said, "You know you aren't so ugly. You're starting to look much better. Your face looks fine." He gasped trying to take his mind off things.  
  
"I believe that isn't everything you just think is fine about me." Umei mocked.  
  
Jounouchi's hair stood on end.  
  
Umei brought her attention back to her shoulder, "It's still bleeding... I really must be cut from the inside. Blast that Dene, she starts something but never finishes it. She ran off for that older looking guy, that guy..." Umei held her left hand over her wound; she placed her index finger and middle finger around the cut and stretched her skin away from it a bit. The hole in her chest was completely obscene and Jounouchi could have practically thrown up as he watched what she did from the corner of his eye.  
  
She brought up the forceps and Jounouchi nearly vomited at what his eyes witnessed next. Umei jammed the forceps into her wound as more blood oozed out in clumps. From the way she was moving it around in there, the forceps could have pushed the bullet in further. Jounouchi became nauseous as sweat broke out over his face.  
  
Umei's face was stern as she took the pain. Suddenly, she brought the bullet out and threw it into the bushes beside her, just like Jounouchi did. She replaced the bloody forceps with some cotton and some bandages. "I need to go back to the castle and get checked with this wound, it's pretty bad. Hmm, it was so close to my rib cage, I could've killed myself guiding those forceps like that." Umei began to giggle.  
  
Jounouchi fell over, he had turned a pale green.  
  
Umei placed the cotton over her injury and tied the bandages over her. She was done. Even though a lot of blood had dried on her skin and began to make her skin feel itchy, she was finished. She then tied her bloody woolen jacket over her waist and above her belt. Because it was so sunny, the comfort she got from her bare shoulders felt pretty well. She was about to stand when Jounouchi handed her something.  
  
He was already sitting beside her again and was giving back her hat and duel gauntlet.  
  
"Arigatou..." She placed her hat atop her head, covering her bandages. Umei then stared at the hole in her gauntlet from the bullet, she placed it in her pocket instead.  
  
Jounouchi got up first and helped her up.  
  
"You see, no one can pull off this appearance except me." Umei strutted around Jounouchi. The boy seemed to have been too busy thinking about something else. Umei stopped fooling around and stared at Jounouchi. "Mai's going to be okay, don't worry."  
  
"It's not that." Jounouchi huffed. "It's you."  
  
"I'm going to be okay too." Umei smirked.  
  
"It's not that either."  
  
Umei thought about it for a while and stared at Jounouchi puzzled. "Still trying to give me a chance. Still trying to decide if you should or that I shouldn't bother being friends with you because of the way you acted towards me even though I wanted to make up?"  
  
Jounouchi stared at her wide-eyed. "Oh yeh, you can read thoughts." He started to beat himself up for forgetting.  
  
"I know what you were thinking during the whole time I spared with Dene..." Umei tucked her hair into her hat. "Everything you thought, I heard it. Every word you thought, it took my mind off fighting Dene just to listen to you."  
  
Jounouchi pushed his right fist into his left palm. "So you're saying it's my fault you were so badly injured and so close to death..."  
  
"Iie... If you, Honda, and Yuugi didn't interfere I would probably be dead by now. I owe you all..." Umei smiled at what she said.  
  
Jounouchi still had a hurt expression sketched on his face. "There's something else... What's all this about you and Kaiba?"  
  
Umei became dumbfounded at the sudden random question. She couldn't help but giggle as Jounouchi waited for her response. "Does that bother you? There's nothing between us anymore, don't worry, we had our ups and mostly downs but it's over. He was too high-rise and I was too shallow..." and with that said and done, Umei began to walk off in search of the others.  
  
Jounouchi gazed after her but soon remembered something else that interested him. He ran after her and said in a light tone, "Did you know about Mesmori's hairstyle?"  
  
---  
  
Umei was right, she really did know Dene well. There was Mai, bruised but alive, standing on the beach. She had a deep cut on her left arm and a bruise on her other arm. She tried to fix her hair that was left askew as she talked with three of the security officials with a group of duelists surrounding her and wanting in on the story.  
  
"At least she's okay." Honda sighed in relief.  
  
Mesmori on the other hand had strolled over to the crowd. She wanted to get a good, a perfect, look at Mai, the girl who had Jounouchi's heart. Mesmori stood outside the commotion just to hear what Mai was saying. Honda crept up behind her.  
  
"Listen I don't want to go through this again! I already told you twice!" Mai was getting ticked off as she began tapping her foot.  
  
"We need to get it straight, Kujaku-san." One of the men with the longest beard Mai had ever seen said as he began rubbing his bald head. If he didn't wear his shades he would certainly not look as appealing to Mai since they framed his face.  
  
"Mr. Motsuwa, please, she's is probably to being traumatized from attacker." The sultry voice of Wolfram Schwarz persuaded. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses as he showed off his beaming honey eyes.  
  
Mai stared at him intently. "Your eyes, they're just like hers... So beautiful. The girl who attacked me had those eyes. What was your name again?" she said softly.  
  
Wolfram glanced at Mai a little worried. "Wolfram Schwarz, ma'am."  
  
"Schwarz... That name seems familiar... How old are you?" Mai was practically hitting on him. The crowd around her began to stare at her puzzled.  
  
"Way to go Schwarz-san." Sawatari nudged Wolfram in the arm pretty hard yet he intended it harmless. "All the ladies lay eyes on you and they just kick us to the side."  
  
"Mr. Sawatari, we are men having honor, stop act like child." Wolfram shot his head at Sawatari as he took his shades from his pocket and placed them over his eyes.  
  
The crowd of duelists began to laugh.  
  
Motsuwa pushed his glasses up as he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Minna! Everything is under control, you can go now, back to dueling, we have to ask Kujaku-san more dull questions."  
  
Everyone bean to groan in disagreement.  
  
Motsuwa brought out his gun and shot at the sky, "Outta here or the lot of you are disqualified."  
  
People began to push by Mesmori as she still stood there unable to move until she saw Mai for herself. As soon as everyone was gone Mesmori's eyes began to sparkle. Mai was beautiful, she resembled a model! Mesmori felt a pain in the pit of her stomach as she looked away. Jounouchi really knew how to pick them, there was no way for Mesmori to compete with Mai, she had something Mesmori didn't have yet... Experience because she was older...  
  
"I thought I said to leave, I want everyone gone." Motsuwa shouted.  
  
Mesmori looked up to see he wasn't talking to her or Honda. A short boy around the age of fifteen stood by Mai. He wore a red woolen cap on his head but it didn't help to constrain his long, brown spiky hair that extended all the way down to his thighs.  
  
"I'm waiting for her." He said calmly as he pushed up his bag he held on one shoulder from falling.  
  
Mai glared at him and purred. "Dinosaur Ryuzaki! Go somewhere, I'll talk with you later."  
  
Ryuzaki clenched his fist.  
  
Wolfram stared down at him, "Might as well go, before you do something you don't want to do."  
  
Ryuzaki snorted and turned around. Mesmori took a good look at his face; he had a tuft of purple dyed on the hair that stuck out of his hat from the front. As Ryuzaki walked by, he accidentally bumped his shoulder into Mesmori's.  
  
He shot his head at her and was ready to give a remark but he found himself tongue-tied. His hard expression grew soft.  
  
"Oie!" Mesmori gasped as she turned towards him and bowed, "Gomen!"  
  
She felt even more embarrassed when she noticed that she bumped her own head into his.  
  
Ryuzaki still didn't say anything, he just started walking again, still staring at Mesmori until she was out of his sight. Mesmori had been blushing until the three guards brought her back to reality.  
  
"What are you two doing?! I said to leave!" Motsuwa warned.  
  
Honda broke a crack, "Just admiring the scenery."  
  
Mai's eyes widened a bit, 'Jounouchi's friend...' she then took a glimpse at Mesmori and had a rather strange expression on her face then. 'What a strange girl!'  
  
Sawatari and Motsuwa stepped up to Honda and Mesmori while Wolfram was finishing his discussion with Mai.  
  
"Okay you two, you got ten seconds to vamoose." Sawatari threatened.  
  
"This is our first sight of the sea up so close, it is so beautiful!" Honda acted as he placed his arm around Mesmori. "We were just married and we came here to duel as a honeymoon present, you can't take us away from this spot that we shall remember for the rest of our lives." It looked as if Honda was about to cry.  
  
Mesmori wasn't even paying attention as she listened to what Wolfram and Mai were talking about.  
  
"Whoa whoa, this girl!" Motsuwa blasted. He then whispered into Honda's ear, "Quite eccentric isn't she?"  
  
"It's what I love about her." Honda had a look of determination. "Oh my dear Mesmori-koi!"  
  
Sawatari kept staring at Mesmori, but Mesmori didn't care, she was too busy listening to Mai and Wolfram.  
  
"So you didn't get name?" Wolfram pleaded.  
  
"For the last time, no." Mai hissed.  
  
"See where she go?"  
  
"Iie. I was too occupied with whether my arm was broken!" Mai screamed.  
  
"She speaking to you?"  
  
"She asked me why I let my friend go!" Mai was growing impatient because it got harder to understand him through his thick accent.  
  
"Who is friend? Here now?" Wolfram became a little uneasy.  
  
"Well you serve her father; Umei Crawford. She had walked off after acting strangely and then that girl crept up behind me and attacked me."  
  
Wolfram held his head as if he was having a headache.  
  
"What's wrong now?" Mai lost her mean persona.  
  
Wolfram shook it off, "Last question... Did she take anything of you?"  
  
"My entire deck! And right in front of me she slit her arm and dripped her own blood all over it!" It looked as if Mai was about to cry as she got even more frustrated. "I would like to go look for my deck if you three are through."  
  
"Ja, that's all, but leave this to—"  
  
"Matte!" Mesmori slipped through Honda's grip and ran over to Mai. She began to search through her endless pockets.  
  
"Nani? What are you doing?" Mai gasped.  
  
"Here! I think this is all of it, I wiped off the blood for you..." Mesmori exhibited Mai's deck in her hands.  
  
Mai screamed for joy as she snatched her deck from the fifteen-year-old and embraced her in a hug. "Arigatou!"  
  
"Where you get that?" Wolfram asked as Sawatari and Motsuwa began to circle around Mesmori and the extravagant Mai.  
  
Honda broke in and grabbed Mesmori's hand, "We found it, how lucky! We have to go and do things married couples do! Oh and duel of course, Ja ne!"  
  
Mesmori was untangled by Mai and was being pulled away by her 'husband'.  
  
Sawatari grabbed Mesmori's free hand and stopped them both.  
  
"Mr. Sawatari!" Wolfram warned.  
  
"Something isn't right... I saw you early with that different boy, I remember now, you said he was your boyfriend! So what does this mean? You're cheating on your teenage husband? And I've seen you around East Domino High when I come to pick up Umei-san after school. Umei's a second-year and you're a first-year. There is no way you could be married at your age!" Sawatari turned to Motsuwa, "Just for that, disqualify them both."  
  
"Geez, you catch on fast!" Honda shouted.  
  
"You can't disqualify us!" Mesmori pleaded as her eyes sparkled with innocence.  
  
"You can't disqualify them!" Mai and Wolfram censured at the same time.  
  
"You don't make that decision, you are not the person in charge of disqualified persons, I am." Motsuwa beamed as him and Sawatari began to bellow.  
  
"That's not fair!" Mai protested.  
  
"I may not be charge of qualifications, but I am charge of you monkeys." Wolfram said darkly.  
  
"Why do you care? There's no help for the helpless. It's not like any of them are going to make it to face Pegasus anyway... Go back to the castle and worry about doing Pegasus's every whim. You may have been around longer than me, but I know how to get people to do as I say. Or just go back to Germany—I never liked how you said my name. O-mae." Sawatari began to squeeze Mesmori's arm.  
  
"Eyah!" Mesmori cried. "Stop!"  
  
"Cut it out or you're going to regret that..." Honda warned as his expression grew dark along with Wolfram's.  
  
"Mr. Sawatari, we'll see how Mr. Pegasus likes this." Wolfram stepped in front of Mai, "You best be leaving."  
  
Mai nodded about to take off.  
  
"Where're you going! You're disqualified too!" Motsuwa ordered.  
  
"Nani!" Mesmori and Mai said at the same time.  
  
Motsuwa peered at Wolfram, "Just to be fair, the girl's been through too much to continue dueling any longer."  
  
Mai was on the verge of slapping Motsuwa's beard right off.  
  
Wolfram snarled but still remained sedated, "I did know not you could think for self not. Mr. Sawatari is your master and you his hound. As you say, 'kutabre subeta'..."  
  
"Wolfram!" Motsuwa went off and hurled a fist at him. In a flash, Wolfram brought out a black pistol with 'Schwarz' written on the barrel in gold. Motsuwa stopped instantly.  
  
"Unlike your model, mine was modified by greatest gunsmith of all world. Able to shoot a second faster to your model. It shoots off round split millisecond after first. Plus it much fancy. You were outdone by sixteen- year-old girl, my sister is truly greatest gunsmith in world..." Wolfram edged his fellow guard to prove him wrong.  
  
'That gun?!' Mesmori thought.  
  
Mai hunched behind Wolfram as Sawatari released Mesmori's arm. Mesmori fell back onto Honda.  
  
"You two leaving now." Wolfram motioned for Honda and Mesmori to go.  
  
Mesmori bowed, "Arigatou Schwarz-san."  
  
"Come on!" Honda grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the feud.  
  
"Me take you to safety." Wolfram offered his arm to Mai and she gladly accepted. "Guten Tag." He called as him and Mai began to walk away.  
  
Sawatari wasn't going to let this slide. He revealed his gun from his own pocket and held it pointing to Wolfram's back. "Oi Schwarz-san!"  
  
Mesmori looked behind her with wide eyes.  
  
Wolfram turned to see what was about to shoot at him.  
  
"This is what I think is fair!" Sawatari screamed as he released a shot.  
  
"OIE!" Mesmori screamed. She had jumped onto Sawatari just in time as the bullet meant for Wolfram slid by him. Wolfram brought Mai to the floor with him so she would be safe from the fire.  
  
"Do you treat all girls this way?" Mai cracked as she shielded her head.  
  
"Ike! Motsuwa get her!" Sawatari struggled as Mesmori tried to take the gun away from him.  
  
"Coming!" Motsuwa piped up.  
  
"No you aren't!" Honda ran in and socked Motsuwa square in the eyes, shattering his glasses to pieces.  
  
As Honda and Motsuwa quarreled, Mesmori was trying to think of a way to get out of this mess without being killed. She quickly had a notion and placed it into effect. She pounced to the floor and swept Sawatari clear of his feet—acknowledgment goes to Umei! Once he fell to the floor, Mesmori, proud of what she had done, grabbed at the gun and got to her feet. She was about to run but the hand of Sawatari grabbed her leg and knocked her to her stomach. The gun rolled by her. She soon discovered herself in a terrible position. Sawatari had her pinned to the floor and his gun was now fixed on the back of her head.  
  
"Please don't!" Mesmori began to cry.  
  
"Mesmori!" Honda called as Motsuwa crept up behind him and constrained him by his arms now.  
  
"Sawatari!" Wolfram yelled, kneeling to the ground trying to keep Mai covered.  
  
"See how I get people to do what I say." Sawatari bellowed as he pressed his pistol into Mesmori's neck harder.  
  
"Errrriiii." Mesmori clenched her eyes, the gun was still warm from being fired already and the metal burned her skin.  
  
"Now what do you say? You're going to have to do something for me if you don't want to get killed." Sawatari said soothingly with an impish grin.  
  
Honda's eyes bulged, "USO!" Motsuwa tightened his grip on Honda.  
  
Wolfram was about to lose it, "Sawatari I swear—"  
  
"Oi, the spotlight's on her, nothing you can do can save her. You even try and I'll blow her brains out!" Sawatari shouted. He noticed Honda struggling to be set free. "That goes for you too..." He focused back on the girl below him, "So little songbird, chirp up."  
  
Mesmori bit her lip and tasted her warm tears that rolled down her face. No matter what, she would not allow herself to be defiled even if it meant life or death, she risked it all as she screamed, "I won't! Kill me if you want but I won't give my body to you no matter what! I rather die with dignity than live with guilt! My heart is for someone else! Oni! Kusai oni!"  
  
Sawatari just smiled.  
  
"That smile makes me sick, kill me too when you're done." Honda held his head down.  
  
"Nani!" Mai said bringing her head up.  
  
Sawatari laughed as he clicked his trigger. "Busu, you just lost your chance, from the way you look, you'll never get anyone! DIE!"  
  
"IIE!" Honda, Mai, and Wolfram screamed as the gun went off. A smog set over the two. There was no way Mesmori could have survived that shot, she was too close to it to even move. Mesmori didn't deserve anything like that, she cared so much for others than she did her own self. So much love she showed for others it killed her. The waves of the beach washed up and then back, the only thing heard.  
  
Even Motsuwa was so stunned that he let go of Honda. Honda didn't even get revenge on Motsuwa because he took off as soon as he was free. "Mesmori! Mesmori!" he called through the haze.  
  
The smoke finally cleared, but everyone was shocked to see the outcome. Mesmori was huddled on the floor trembling; her hands over her head, her knees tucked under her, and her cowboy hat rustling with the water that washed up on the beach. Sawatari, on the other hand, was lying on the beach floor, his gun beside him. His blood stained the sand as it became apparent that he was shot right through the skull. But that wasn't what shocked the viewers at all.  
  
A man in a purple robe stood in front of Mesmori with his right hand out. He was holding the gun that had shot off and hit Sawatari between the eyes, where his glasses were cleanly split. Oddly enough, his pistol was also black with 'Schwarz' written on the barrel in quartz lettering. He was unseen, his face in shadow. He brought his hand back into his robe now even more a mystery than before.  
  
Mesmori didn't dare look up once she heard the content, raspy voice of HIM. "MiMi-Chan, he never should have touched you. He never should have said that to you..."  
  
The hooded face moved over to Motsuwa, the quivering Motsuwa who looked as if he was about to pee his pants. The stranger then said coldly, "People who stare should be punished." A streak of fire burned over the sand right to where Motsuwa stood and engulfed him. His screams were heard as he fell to the ground and charred to death.  
  
"AIE! Oh my god!" Mai screamed into Wolfram's shoulder, diverting attention to them now.  
  
The hooded figure was fixated on Wolfram but Wolfram didn't meet his eyes. After what Honda saw he was still staring at the incinerating man.  
  
"Wolfram, still going by your code... 'People who dishonor should be punished'?" the man's robe began to rustle in the wind that blew by, his hood flew off to reveal his extremely beautiful face. He had hair just as much hacked as Wolfram except instead of blonde it was a dark silver pulled into a long ponytail. His skin was a rich cinnamon while his eyes glowed different colors. His left eye was yellow while the other was a mix of purple and gray.  
  
"I don't run to murder as my resort. You run off after you were expelled, where did you go! Why you dressed that way! You dress as if you joined cult! You dishonor whole family! Hedwig you—" Wolfram spat.  
  
The figure's eyes bulged as they beamed again. A ring of fire formed around Honda, Wolfram, and Mai.  
  
"EE!" Mai screamed as the blaze was harsh on their skin.  
  
"Stay down." Wolfram ordered as he brought himself over Mai and Honda, protecting only them.  
  
"My name is Scortch! Hedwig died." The robed stranger shouted, breaking his peaceful demeanor.  
  
Sand began to whirl up from the ground like a tornado as it started to cover the trio. Their screams turned to mere faint whispers as they were soon buried alive by the crazed intruder named Scortch. The flame went out and a huge mound of sand was left on the beach.  
  
All this time Mesmori still couldn't bring herself to look at whatever happened but found herself listening to the screams as torture to her ears. Scortch's voice pierced through Mesmori's mind as she cringed even more, this brought about even more torture than the screams. "I don't care what my MASTER says, I'll disobey him for you. With Rashid being his right hand that influences his decision and me being his left hand that carries out his power, I have the right to disobey him once in a while. Since we've last met I've gained new abilities to take your heart, I'm finally stronger and will never be beaten again to lose your heart. You deserve the strongest lover. You didn't listen to my demand and I'm glad, not only am I here to collect you for my master but I'm also here to kill my rival to show you I deserve to be your lover and not her..."  
  
Scortch turned to face Mesmori, he bent down and placed his hands on her shivering shoulders. She kept her head glued to the floor beneath her while the flames of the burning Motsuwa still did not cease in the background. She felt the water wash up to both of them as he said in an anesthetized tone that Mesmori would never forget for the rest of her life and would surely be all she dreamt about, "No one's here, just you and me, MiMi-Chan... No one will stop me now from what I'm about to do to you... Umei won't save you this time..."  
  
---  
  
The End? 


End file.
